KEHINDE FAJOBI
Petroleum marketers and retailers are expected to commence the lifting of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) directly from the Port Harcourt Refining Company later this week, provided there are no unforeseen changes.
This development was revealed by Joseph Obele, the Publicity Secretary of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), during an interview with The Punch.
Obele explained that since the refinery resumed operations in November, it has exclusively supplied petrol to retail outlets owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
He added that marketers have continued to load imported fuel from the NNPCL but expressed concerns about pricing disparities between Lagos and Port Harcourt.
“NNPC is still telling us to buy at a rate different from the rate they are selling to Lagos at the moment because of logistics,” Obele said.
“Port Harcourt retail outlet owners are not really comfortable with that. Hence, the Port Harcourt refinery will start servicing us this week.”
He urged the NNPC to sell at the same rate across regions. “We in Port Harcourt plead with the NNPC to sell to us at the same rate they are selling fuel to Lagos marketers.
“The difference is too much. It is ₦899 per litre in Lagos but ₦970 in Port Harcourt,” he stated.
Asked if marketers in Port Harcourt had begun buying directly from the refinery, Obele replied, “No, but it will commence this week. The trucks loading out are for the NNPC retail outlets only.”
After several delays, the NNPC announced in November that the old 60,000 barrels-per-day Port Harcourt refinery had resumed operations.
The company also noted that the refinery currently produces naptha, which is blended to produce petrol.
NNPC spokesman Olufemi Soneye confirmed that rehabilitation works on the newer 150,000 barrels-per-day capacity refinery are ongoing.