The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says petrol prices will drop once the oil marketers start lifting the products directly from Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Chinedu Ukadike, spokesperson for IPMAN, spoke on Channels Television on Tuesday.
His comment followed the directive from the federal government that Dangote refinery will sell petrol to only the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), with interested marketers expected to buy the product from the national oil firm.
Ukadike said marketers are now in talks with the Dangote refinery for the direct lifting of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.
“We have written to Dangote, and he has also replied us that he’s going to give us an opportunity to sit down and discuss and I also believe that that discussion will take place. Whatever comes out of that discussion, we will make it public to Nigerians,” Ukadike said.
“Most people look at the independent marketer as those who sell petroleum products very expensively, that we are after profit, and we don’t even care about the feelings of the masses. That is not correct.
“We are optimistic that this relationship and business engagement with Dangote will break this bureaucratic distribution of petroleum products from one chain to another. Also with NNPC because the Port Harcourt Refinery is coming up.
“We are hopeful. Once the Port Harcourt Refinery comes up, we don’t want to take our product from a second tier, third tier.
“We want to take our product directly so that we can cut off all this unnecessary hiking of prices. That’s what we are advocating for. It’s very simple.”
‘COMPETITION WILL REDUCE PETROL PRICES’
Ukadike also spoke on how excessive supply and competition will reduce the price of petrol in the future.
“Now the Port Harcourt Refinery is around the corner. Dangote is already here and the competition will set in and the factors of demand and supply determine price. When there is excessive supply, the price will go down,” he said.
“Everybody wants to sell. It happened when the telecommunications came on board. It was very high.”
Ukadike said this will help determine how cheap petrol will be as marketers can buy from the cheapest providers.
“We will be the beautiful proprietor. We will now go to where you will get it as cheap as possible,” he said.
While Ukadike said IPMAN members are interested in buying PMS from refiner, on September 12, Dangote refinery said only 3 percent of local oil marketers are purchasing its refined petroleum products.
Devakumar Edwin, vice-president of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), said due to low patronage, the refinery has been forced to export 97 percent of its refined products
