Trucks stranded at depots as NNPCL, Dangote clash over pricing

Oil marketers have not yet started loading Premium Motor Spirit, despite assurances that the product will be accessible this weekend.

According to reports, some PMS vessels had arrived in the country at the NNPC’s Apapa and Port Harcourt depots, loading by independent marketers had yet to begin.

As a result, petrol queues in major cities persisted on Friday despite the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, earlier promising that the product would be massively available before the weekend.

However, Mustapha Zarma, National Operations Controller of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, stated on Friday that product loading at depots had yet to begin, and that lineups may last until Monday.

NNPC had stated on Thursday that it would start lifting products from the Dangote refinery on September 15, 2024.

The President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, also confirmed that marketers had yet to start lifting petrol as required.

In a statement on Thursday, the Dangote Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, had said the PMS market in Nigeria was strictly regulated and the refinery would wait for relevant government agencies for the price.

He said, “The PMS market is strictly regulated, which is known to all oil marketers and stakeholders in the sector, hence we cannot determine, fix, or influence the product price, which falls under the purview of relevant government authorities.”

The company held that the PMS market had been deregulated and market forces would determine the price of the product.

The Organised Private Sector on Friday warned that allowing market forces to determine the prices of fuel would bring about more volatility in the sector.