Nigeriaโs petroleum marketers are upbeat they will sell Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) cheaper than that of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited if Dangote Refinery begins direct sale of petrol to them.
The spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike disclosed this in an exclusive interview with daily post on Monday.
Ukadike gave this assurance while giving an update on petroleum marketersโ plans to directly purchase petrol from Dangote Refinery.
This comes days after the Federal Government through the Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Implementation Committee on Naira-for-crude sale to domestic refineries, Wale Edun confirmed that marketers have been cleared to purchase petrol directly from Dangote Refinery.
The development brought to an end the NNPC regime as the sole buyer of Dangote Refinery.
Recall that upon the inaugural distribution of Petrol at Dangote Refinery, NNPC was the sole-offtaker.
However, Edun last Friday, said that part of the implementation of the Naira-for-crude deal with Dangote Refinery was for marketers to lift petrol directly without NNPC as a middleman.
This comes at the back of the latest hike of petrol in NNPCL filling stations to N1,030 per litre in Abuja, while other petrol stations sell at between N1100 and N1,200.
Similarly, NNPCL fixed between N1040 and N1100 as ex-depot prices, that is the rate petrol marketers are expected to buy the product at depots.
Meanwhile, marketers had earlier rejected the ex-depot price by NNPCL.
Nigerian governmentโs permission to marketers to lift Dangote Petrol became a lifeline outside fuel import.
Reacting, Ukadike on Monday said IPMAN members, who control 70 percent of filling stations nationwide, are awaiting Dangote Refinery to kick off direct petrol sales.