The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, has called on the Federal Government to distribute no less than 30 per cent of its discounted petrol supply to independent marketers.
PETROAN President Billy Gillis-Harry made the appeal in an interview on Arise News, saying the move will allow for better distribution nationwide and make the price cut available to more Nigerians.
Gillis-Harry contended that with a population of over 230 million people, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited retail shops alone cannot efficiently deliver the discounted commodity across the country.
“The 30% we mentioned is actually a minimum, because we could do more depending on the dynamics NNPC sees on how we can work together,” he said.
He noted that the independent marketers do not have the financial capacity to tolerate losses like NNPC and access to the reduced goods will provide them the opportunity to offer at lower costs without jeopardising profit margin.
“We are not NNPC. We don’t have deep pockets to forgo profits. The explanation is simple: if we have the product already well-discounted landing at our shops, we can offer at a considerably cheaper price than if we buy from other sources,” said Gillis-Harry.
He noted that PETROAN is not agitating for free fuel, but wants to buy the cheap product from NNPC and sell it through its members’ filling stations.
He used a city of around three million people as an example, saying that adding 1,000 or 2,000 filling stations would increase supplies compared with having only 15 outlets to rely on.
Gillis-Harry also denied that the petrol discount scheme was a return of fuel subsidy, saying the scheme was NNPC giving up some of its profit and not the government paying the difference between landing cost and pump price.
The association stated it has presented its proposal and is awaiting the answer of the Federal Government.
About the Author
