- Marketers demand N850/litre diesel
Contrary to online reports that the output of diesel from Dangote refinery has crashed the pump price of the product in the country, Africa’s largest oil refinery has pegged its supply price at N1225/ litre, which is close to the landing price of imported diesel at N1250/ litre.
Oil marketers, however, have called for a downward review in the price of the Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), popularly called diesel, being produced by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to between N700 and N850/litre, as operators plan to meet managers of the refinery next week.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) made the call in a press interview where it asserted that the N1,225/litre diesel price from an indigenous refinery is too high because the commodity was produced in Nigeria and not imported.
Similarly, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria also called for a reduction in the price of Dangote diesel.
The groups called for the intervention of the Federal Government and urged the managers of the refinery to consider the high cost of logistics required to transport the product from Lagos where the refinery is located.
Oil marketers pointed out that the product is being landed in Nigeria by some importers at N1,250/litre following the appreciation of the naira against the dollar, adding that this should be another reason why the Dangote refinery that produces diesel in Nigeria should cut down its price.
According to the oil marketers, diesel produced at the Dangote refinery has no vessel cost, import charges, and other costs associated with the costs associated with the importation of the commodity into Nigeria.
This came as it was gathered that the marketers under the aegis of IPMAN and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, and PETROAN held separate meetings on Monday to deliberate on the pricing of petroleum products from the refinery, as well as other issues.
News Diet gathered that Dangote refinery sold a minimum of one million litres to each registered oil marketer that got the product from the plant since it commenced diesel sale and the product was dispensed to marketers at between N1,225/litre and N1,300/litre depending on the volume of purchase.
Also speaking, the President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billis Gillis-Harry, argued that the cost of diesel from the Dangote refinery should be reduced.
“PETROAN has an agreement with Dangote to supply to us at N1,200, but we will still request a downward review. We have over 19,000 members and over 6,800 people are active and ready to do business. So we need to talk about so many issues.”
“First of all, the logistics from Lagos to Port Harcourt, Calabar, Warri, Zamfara, and other locations is not very easy. So those in Lagos can take the N1,200/litre price because their cost of logistics is low, but this is not so for dealers outside Lagos. So, we will certainly still engage with them on how prices will come down. However, the good news is that they have rolled out products and we salute and congratulate them,” Gillis-Harry said.
