Queue at the filing station The President, Petroleum Products Retailers Owners of Nigeria( PETROAN), Dr Billy Gills Harry, says the reduction of the product, by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) is good for the nation'struggling economy, as it would help in soften the difficult situations posed by the sharp rise in the price of petroleum products. While reacting to the issue through a statement issued and signed to the NEWSMIRROR yesterday, Harry said that the slight reversal of the price by NNPCL shows that the government is committed to the alleviation of the problems of the masses. According to him, the reduction in the price per litre of Petrol Motoring Spirit( PMS) from N1,020 per litre to N899 per litre is good, adding that the country will soon get over its problem, if the readjustment of the economy continues. Also, PETROAN's Public Relation Officer, Dr Joseph Obele said that Dangote Petroleum Refinery had earlier started the r...
By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has declared the statement on crudes swap made by its former Chief Operating Officer, Upstream operations, Engineer Bello Rabiu as false and unfounded.
Rabiu had during the week at the quarterly Press engagement organised by the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria( MEMAN) alleged that the Nigeria fuel consumption capacity estimated at about one million Metric Tonnes(MT) was currently being supplied through the crude swap, otherwise known as Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP), importation programme of the NNPCL.
The DSDP, according to earlier reports by News Mirror, is a transactional framework adopted by the NNPCL after the 445,000 barrels of crude capacity refineries in the country went into comatose, with local and international traders contracted to lift Nigerian crude oil owned by NNPCL and deliver Petroleum Products.
Rabiu, now an independent consultant, said the only supplier of petrol in Nigeria today is NNPC. “This is a monopoly, which is against deregulation procedures,” he said.
Spokesman for the NNPCL, Femi Soneye, however, debunked the claim by Rabiu, declaring it as false and unfounded.
In an official message sent to the News Mirror Soneye maintained that NNPCL no longer engages in crude swap deals.
He was reacting to a viral report by the leading online media on the statement made by Mr. Rabiu.
“The statement is false. NNPC Limited ,no longer engages in crude oil swap deals. All gasoline supplies are now based on open cash tenders. This allegation is entirely unfounded,” Soneye said.
Rabiu has earlier said: “With consumption capacity estimated at about One Million MT (1.341 billion litres) of currently being supplied through DSDP importation programme of NNPC, whereby local and international traders are contracted to lift Nigerian crude oil owned by NNPCL and deliver Petroleum Products Ex-Lagos.
“This remains the only supply source of PMS in the Nigerian Market due to inability of other players to secure forex for direct importation. Thus, NNPC is effectively the only supplier of PMS in Nigeria today.
“Being the only supplier and importer of PMS in Nigeria, NNPC is currently the determinant of PMS price as other players are only adding their margins to arrive at pump price depending on location,” he said.
With the scraping of PEF and based on the foregoing, retail price of PMS across the nation depends on the NNPCL landing cost, availability of the products along the downstream value chain as well as the realizable margins by other players from Jetties to retail stations, Regulators/MDAs such as NPA, NIMASA and NMDPRA.
He therefore called for a review of the current business model and institutional arrangements of the deregulation policy which has resulted in one dominant player (NNPC) power to import and fix the prices of PMS across the nation.
According to him, this is is not consistent with the provisions of PIA 2021 which envisages the participation of multiple players operating under open competitive environment with multiple supply sources from import and domestic refineries under a level playing field aimed at delivering products at lowest possible prices at the pump.
“Under the current model, No one knows the actual cost of importing a litre of PMS into the Nigerian market except NNPC. NMDPRA no longer publish the pricing template to enable the citizens know the official landing cost of any product Ex-Lagos since the announcement of full price deregulation and total removal of PMS subsidies,” Rabiu said.
Rabiu further said that situation has resulted in total lack of accountability and substantial revenue leakages that cannot be quantified due to lack of transparency in the process.
He said: “ If we can be told what Customs duty is daily in Nigeria, we should be equally told how much is the fuel being imported”
“For example NNPC insists there is no more subsidy in the pricing of PMS but the difference between the AGO and PMS open market prices clearly shows some elements of subsidies or hidden cost recovery in the open market prices of PMS across the nation” he stated.
Raising hope on the coming on stream of Dangote refinery for PMS, Rabiu said Dangote Refinery would soon become a major supplier of petroleum products, adding that there must be regulatory intervention to ensure smooth entry of Dangote Refinery into the supply chain.
He said: “Immersion of Dangote Refinery in the downstream petroleum sector is a game-changer in the journey towards full deregulation.
“Government intervention to ensure a level-playing field in collaboration with all stakeholders is the most critical next step.
“All hands should therefore be on deck to ensure the attainment of a transparent, competitive, efficient and sustainable liberalized downstream petroleum sector in our country, Nigeria,” he stated.
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