The Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company Ltd are selling Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, to oil marketers at 1,014.75 per litre; NewsNGR can authoritatively report.
Documents seen by NewsNGR revealed that the N1,014 75 per litre price sold by Dangote to oil marketers is broken down into two major cost components.
Based on the component, Dangote pegged petrol at N990 per litre with an additional variation cost of 2.5 per cent, which amounted to N24.75 per litre.
Findings by NewsNGR further revealed that the high price of petrol from Dangote Refinery contradicted expectations from Nigerians that the “crude-for-Naira” deal between the Federal Government and Dangote Refinery would reduce pump prices starting October 1, 2024.
NewsNGR had last month reported how independent oil marketers adjusted the pump price of petrol to reflect the price at which they bought the product from Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company.
Checks by NewsNGR revealed that many filling stations had adjusted their pump price of petrol to an average of N1,200 per litre.
The adjustment followed the full deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, which allowed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd to end its exclusive purchase agreement with Dangote Refinery.
This effectively opened up the market for other marketers to buy petrol directly from the refinery.
The implication of this is that the NNPC will no longer be the sole off-taker, and marketers can now negotiate prices directly with Dangote Refinery.
This development aligns with the current practices for fully deregulated products, where refineries can sell directly to marketers on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.
NewsNGR had reported in September that the prices of PMS supplied by Dangote range from N898 to N1,019 per litre based on the estimated pump prices.
As of September, when NNPC was the sole off-taker of the petrol from the Dangote refinery, the National Oil Company sold the product to Nigerians at N897 per litre while other independent oil marketers sold the product at between N930 and N985 per litre.
NewsNGR had last month reported that various petrol stations operated by independent oil marketers had adjusted their price upward to about N1,200 per litre to reflect the price of petrol from Dangote Refinery.
For example, at Eternal filling station in Area 8, the price of petrol is being sold for N1,200 per litre, while for Mobil filling station on airport road in Lugbe axis, it was sold for N1,025 per litre
Umaratu Nigeria Ltd in Gwarinpa sold the product for N1,200, Rainoil N1,120, and Total filling stability Garki sold for N1,080 per litre
The NNPC had withdrawn as the sole off-taker of Dangote petrol marking a significant shift towards complete liberalization of the market, allowing marketers to source products directly from Dangote Refinery or other suppliers.
With NNPC no longer covering the differential between Dangote’s selling price and the price to marketers, PMS under recovery will cease to exist as marketers are now buying directly from Dangote and selling at cost price.
What this means is that with marketers adding their profit margin, it would lead to a hike in the product’s price.
The liberalization will also promote competition and potentially stabilize supply chains.