Petrol Dispensed Above The Approved Price Of N151.56 Per Litre

Pipeline Products Marketing Company, (PPMC), on Wednesday announced N151.56 per litre as ex depot price for the Premium Motor Spirit (petrol).

In an internal memo dated September 2, the company read: “a new product price adjustment has been effected on our payment platform.

“To this end the price of premium motor spirit (PMS) is now one hundred and fifty one naira, fifty six kobo (N151.61) per litre.” The memo was signed by Head Depot Manager, D.O. Agbalaya. As at yesterday, the price of the Brent crude in the international market stood at $46 per barrel.
Following the PPMC directive, the various marketers are already fixing pump prices at which the commodity will be sold. For instance, the National Vice President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, told The Nation that marketers would sell the product for between N158 to N160 per litre.

Maigandi said while the PPMC announced N151.56 per litre as the ex-depot price, it did not mention any dealer price which marketers should sell as pump price.

“Should the PPPRA or PPMC fail to direct us on how much to sell the petrol, we will instruct our marketers to sell it for between N158 to N160 per litre,” he said.

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IPMAN National President, Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, said the body has not announced any pump price increase. “I am the president and I know what I am saying. The national secretariat has not announced any price increase as at this time we are talking (yesterday evening). There are three levels of government in IPMAN- national, zonal and unit; so maybe it is the zonal that has announced but the national body has not announced a new price. We want to get a clearer picture by tomorrow before we take a national position. We will do the actual numbers and calculate using the PPPRA template on profit and other factors, before we take a final position,” Okoronkwo said.

In s similar vein, the Chairman, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MOMAN), Mr Tunji Oyebanji, in an interview with The Nation Newspaper, said the pump price of petrol will have to be adjusted to reflect realities of the increase of ex-depot price by PPMC. He however noted that the magnitude or extent of the increase, timing for implementation and location, is a decision that will be left for each company to take.

“Consistent with global best practices, MOMAN does not dictate prices to its members as this would be anti-competition in a fully deregulated market. We welcome government’s action in allowing the market to determine prices as we believe it will prevent the return of subsidies while allowing operators the opportunity to recover their costs. This will in the long run encourage investment and create jobs,” Oyebanji said.

However, the South West Zonal chapter of IPMAN has directed its members in the Southwest region of the country to begin sales of PMS at N162 per litre. IPMAN’s Southwest Zonal Chairman, Mr Dele Tajudeen, said his members would be left with no other option than to dispense the product at a price of N162.

He explained that since the federal government has decided and put the price of the product at N151. 56k, IPMAN has no option than to sell at N162 to be able to meet up with the overhead cost. He further explained that his members will have to make provision for the cost of diesel to run generator that will power the dispensing machines; pay the cost of transporting the fuel from the depot to their respective filling stations and also settle their statutory levies with the appropriate regulatory agencies.

“By the time they finish paying all these levies, the cost of discharging fuel at the petroleum filling stations would have shored up to N160, hence dispensing the product at N162 will enable IPMAN members to be able to pay the staff bills and the stations’ gains,” Tajudeen said.

It will be recalled that the government deregulated the product last March this year. PPPRA had on May 1, approved price band of N121.50 to N123.50 per litre for the product. In the month of July, the agency had approved a pump price of a band of N140.80 to N143.80 per litre. It was the first time that the agency approved a new price after the removal of petrol subsidy.

With Brent Crude rising from $43.24 per barrel in July to $44.03 per barrel in August, the PPPRA on August 4 approved an ex-depot price of N138.62 per litre for PMS and kept the pump price to its chest, a move that made marketers to sell for between N145.80 to N150 per litre in the month of August.

Domole Ifeoma