Ex- depot price hits N225 per litre as petrol scarcity persists

Marketers urge NNPCL to stock product for 60 days •Pricing gap widens to 34%

Ex-depot price of petrol has risen by five basis points to N225 per litre, according to a survey of independent petroleum marketers.

Motorists and commuters continue to groan as petrol scarcity remains.

The pricing gap between regulated retail price by major oil marketers and the independent petroleum marketers widened to as much as 34 per cent.

The strenuous long queues at major oil marketers’ stations and the bloated price at the independent marketers’ stations, left motorists with the hard choices.

Worse still, the absence of effective monitoring by the regulatory body has created a loophole for the oil majors, with many engaging in underhand tactics to short-change motorists.

A major oil marketer runs a policy of compelling motorists and other users to buy its other products such as liquid car wash gel, engine oil and automatic transmission fluid (ATF) in consideration for purchase of petrol at regulated price of N169 to N170 per litre.

Attendants at another oil major’s stations imposed extra charge of around N500 in consideration for purchase at regulated price.

In Lagos, the queues have reduced considerably in areas with a large concentration of major oil marketers but most motorists within the suburbs remained at the mercy of cut-throat independent marketers.

Prices at several independent petrol marketers ranged from N250 to N270 per litre.

As The Nation monitored the petrol market in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday, only a few retail outlets were opened.

They were vending petrol at N180 per litre with a maximum of two pumps out of the lots in the stations.

The scarcity worsened the black marketing in the city as hawkers sold the product with plastic cans for about N3,000 per litre.

Ogun State chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday said that all the depots belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) were dry, blaming the lingering scarcity on the company and federal government.

President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alhaji Debo Ahmed told The Nation  that there were product scarcity because NNPCL, the sole importer of petrol, was not doing enough.

He called on NNPCL to increase its reserve to 60 days sufficiency stock to meet the country’s demand.

“Private depots are going to buy from NNPCL and the private depots will now sell to us at N220 to N225 per litre instead N148.17 per litre,” Ahmed explained the pricing differential.

According to him, “60 days sufficiency is 4.0 billion litres while the NNPCL now maintains a maximum of 2.0 billion litres at an average 60 million litres per day consumption”.

According to him, boosting the stock from the present maximum of 30 days sufficiency to 60 days sufficiency and subsequently topping it on daily basis can bring the persistent scarcity to an end.

He said NNPCL’s private depots were moribund, stressing that the company now channels its product to the marketers through the private depots.

Ahmed, however, noted that unlike the NNPCL’s depots where marketers used to pay and wait for four months to lift their consignments, the private depots never delay releasing the product after payment.

He said: “Petrol is scarce because the federal government is not importing enough. So, they have to import more. They have to have some number of days in their reserves either two months, and they should continue adding on daily basis for our consumption.

“It is because there is no much petrol that there is scarcity. If there is enough, there will be no scarcity at all. They should have 60 days sufficiency then they can be adding on daily basis.

“NNPC doesn’t have depots. All their 21 depots are grounded. They are moribund so they are using private depots and the private depots they are using are not giving us at the correct price.

‘Definitely, we too have to add our own, transportation and everything.  All the expenses will be added together before we arrive at some prices we have to sell. It depends on the area. It does not take long to get your product from the private depots.

“If you pay today, you can get your product tomorrow from the private depots. It is in NNPC that you pay today you wait for your product for three to four months you never get your supply.”

IPMAN Mosinmi Depot Chairman, Otunba Femi Adelaja, yesterday said the persistent scarcity in Ogun State should be blamed on the Federal Government and the NNPCL for their failure to make the product available for its members at affordable prices.

Adelaja urged the government to remove subsidy on petrol and embark on total deregulation of the sector as well as dedication of each of the NNPC depots for the service of the IPMAN members in each of the states including Kwara.

He said these recommendations, if followed, would bring lasting solution to the incessant fuel scarcity in the country.

Adelaja said: “As we speak, PMS is not available in any of the NNPC’s depot across the country. The few litres being sold to members of the public by our members were secured from management of private depots in Lagos, who would sell the product to us at an exorbitant price of between N215 and N220 per liter.

“Prior to now, IPMAN members do get our supplies from the NNPC depots at N148.17 kobo, but since it’s not available in these depots, the private depot owners in Lagos now sell to us at a price of N215.30 kobo, excluding the cost of transportation and other handling and overhead costs.

“So, by the time we add other overhead cost to the price of purchase, it brings the landing cost to between N245 and N250 per liter, excluding transportation, which costs N15 per liter, from Lagos to Abeokuta depending on the location to offload such.

“This implied that for us to dispense the product, which we got from a third-hand to members of the public and also to meet up with the other overhead costs, including running of the filling stations on generator and payment of staff, we have to sell at the price of N270 per liter which we are selling currently across Ogun State,” Adelaja said.

The Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) last week said that the Federal Government had no intention to increase the price in the meantime.

The agency said NNPCL had a stock of the product that could last 34 days.

(Nation)