NIGERIANS will pay about N950.22 for a litre of petrol at Lagos filling stations and as high as N1,019 per litre in Borno State amid the lingering cold war between Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
With varied logistics costs, other states in Nigeria will pay on the basis of transport and other ancillary costs. A litre of petrol will sell at N999.22 in Abuja, Sokoto, and Kano. Residents of states like Oyo, Rivers and other parts of the South will pay about N960 per litre for petrol.
“The NNPC Ltd also wishes to state that, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, PMS prices are not set by the government, but negotiated directly between parties at an arm’s length,” the NNPC spokesman, Mr Olufemi Soneye, disclosed on Monday morning.
The oil company noted that the product it loaded from Dangote refinery on Sunday was paid for in dollars.
Dirty fight between NNPC, Dangote refinery
Dangote Refinery and NNPC are playing dirty petrol politics, which has been on for over a month.
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Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Devakumar Edwin, said in early September that the NNPC would be the sole buyer of the refinery’s petrol. But the NNPC countered Mr Edwin, saying that it would not be the sole buyer of Dangote fuel contrary to Dangote refinery’s assertion.
“To set the records straight, NNPCL wishes to further state as follows: The pricing of petroleum products from any refinery, including the Dangote Refinery Ltd (DRL), is determined by global market forces. The recent changes in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) prices have no impact on the DRL or any other domestic refinery’s access to the Nigerian market. In fact, if current prices are perceived as high, it presents an ideal opportunity for the refinery to sell its products at lower prices in the Nigerian market,” the NNPC said.
Again, on Sunday, September 15, the NNPC spokesman, Mr Soneye, revealed that the state-owned oil company purchased petrol from Dangote Refinery at N898 per litre.
“For this initial loading today (Sunday), the price from the refinery was N898 per litre,” Mr Soneye told Arise TV.
However, Dangote came back to the NNPC late Sunday night, countering the oil company. Dangote noted that it sold its petrol cheaper to the national oil company cheaper in dollars.
According to Dangote Group’s spokesman, Mr Anthony Chiejina,”We urge Nigerians to disregard this malicious statement and await a formal announcement on the pricing, by the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales to local refineries, appointed by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, which will commence on October 1, 2024, bearing in mind that our current stock of crude was procured in dollars.”
However, Dangote’s spokesman did not tell Nigerians how much his company sold petrol to the NNPC.
But on Monday morning, NNPC fired another shot at Dangote refinery, asking it to lower its petrol price for Nigerians.
“The NNPC Ltd assures that if the quoted pricing is disputed, it will be grateful for any discount from the Dangote Refinery, which will be passed on 100 per cent to the general public,” Mr Soneye of the NNPC said in a statement.
“The NNPC Ltd also wishes to state that, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, PMS prices are not set by the government, but negotiated directly between parties at an arm’s length,” Mr Soneye further said.
Not N898, what is the price then?
Analysts have asked Dangote refinery to come out clean and tell Nigerians how much it sold per litre of petrol to the NNPC. This arises from the non-disclosure of the price in the statement released on Sunday night by Dangote refinery.
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“NNPC has told Nigerians the price it bought petrol from Dangote refinery. However, Dangote refinery released a statement on Sunday night countering the NNPC but without telling Nigerians how much it sold to the oil company. That is being clever by half,” said a United Kingdom-based engineer, Dr Adeola Adepoju.
“Telling Nigerians you sold cheaper in dollars makes no sense. We need transparency in this industry and not emotions,” he further said.
An oil and gas expert, who preferred anonymity because of his position in the industry, blamed poor communication by both parties for the situation.
“The truth is that someone is hiding from the truth from the public. Dangote was not upfront with the price it sold to the NNPC. On the other hand, the NNPC failed to disclose the dollar equivalent of what it paid to Dangote. The NNPC paid in dollars but mentioned the naira price. Dangote’s valuation in naira may be lower than the NNPC’s publicly stated price.
“So, both are being careful but somewhat reluctant to give out all the information to Nigerians.”
