IPMAN Buys Petrol At N995 Per Litre

IPMAN buys petrol at N995 per litre as DSS’ intervention resolved lingering issues

Amidst ongoing incessant increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, across the country, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has stated the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has agreed to sell the products to the members of the body at N995 per litre.

This revelation came after the intervention of the department of State Services which engaged its members to restore cohesion and find lasting solution between the two parties.

The statement was made through Hammed Fashola, the National Vice President of IPMAN, who disclosed that solution had finally been proffered to long-lingering problems faced by marketers following the intervention of the DSS.

He also said that, following the DSS’ intervention, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has acceded to paying IPMAN’s N10bn outstanding as the issues surrounding direct PMS purchase from Dangote refinery has also been resolved.

“We really appreciate their intervention. They are doing their job. Anywhere they have seen that there may be a crisis, it is their duty to intervene. And their intervention brokered peace and understanding between the parties, and everybody agreed to work together,” Fashola stated.

When asked “how much will IPMAN purchase petrol from NNPC?” He answered: “For now, tentatively, I think they are offering us N995 per litre.” IPMAN Buys Petrol At N995 Per Litre

He noted that IPMAN will not look to sell petrol in a much-higher price than what other marketers are selling it, citing that price will be majorly determined by distance.

“Our members sell at N1,200 or so and this depends on the location. I think with the N995, there will be a little reduction. Don’t forget that if you transport a product from Lagos to a far distance, you will pay for transportation and other charges.

“We want to work on that because we want to have a common ground. When we sit down and look at the price analysis offered to us, and factor in all our expenses, we want to have a uniform price as much as possible.

“So, I will not be able to tell you the exact price now, but we are working on it, especially in the Lagos axis and other zones. We will look at the transportation cost and all that. At the end of the day, we will fix the price for ourselves,” he stated.

Fashola stressed that competiveness is always a force to reckon with in thriving market, and this is what IPMAN will look at. Price disparity and divergence has always been a major disadvantage to independent marketers.

“The price disparity has been a disadvantage between us and the NNPC Retail and major marketers. So, we are trying to look at how to close that gap so that we come back fully into the business. The lack of direct supply has been our problem, and now that we are solving that problem, I don’t think that disparity will be there again,” according to him.

He indicated that the constant queue at the filling stations across the federation is usually caused by divergent price of the petroleum product.

“The queues you see are because of that difference in prices, that’s why people are saying there are queues. There are no queues; it is the price disparity that is causing the queues. So, if there is not much difference, we have filling stations everywhere; just drive in, buy fuel, and go. But that so much difference in the price is creating that scenario of queues,” he said.

He reacted to the lifted embargo placed on marketers prohibiting them to purchase petrol directly from local refineries, the National Vice President of IPMAN said the body would meet with Dangote in coming days.

“For now, we intend to meet with Dangote this week to see how we work out the modalities and all that. The Federal Government has given a directive and we want to take full advantage of that,” he posited.

He then noted that IPMAN will look to purchase the product at the most favourable and reasonable price, but not planning to ignore NNPC

“At the same time too, we are not ignoring NNPC. So, whichever way, we are ready to do business with NNPC. It depends on the price, we go for the best.

It can be recalled that on Thursday, in a disclosure, IPMAN stated that NNPC bought petrol at about N898 per litre from Dangote refinery and at the same time, selling the same product at N1,010 per liter to Independent marketers in Lagos.

IPMAN which controls more than seventy percentage of filling stations across Nigeria, became embittered by the NNPC greed and threatened to short down as demands were also made for refund of payment for petrol supplied by its members earlier.

According to Abubakar Maigandi, the IPMAN national president, during an interview on Thursday, claimed that the price of circulated petrol was higher than what NNPC paid to get the product from Dangote refinery.

He also revealed that NNPC had been refusing to pay independent marketers for three months.

In his statement, “NNPC purchased the product from the refinery at N898/litre but is asking marketers to buy it at N1,010/litre in Lagos; N1,045 in Calabar; N1,050 in Port Harcourt; and N1,040 in Warri.”

“Our major challenge now is that independent marketers have an outstanding debt from the NNPC and the company collected products through Dangote at a lower rate, which is not up to N900, but they are telling us now to buy this product from them at the price of N1,010/litre in Lagos; N1,045 in Calabar; N1,050 in Port-Harcourt; and N1,040 in Warri,” Maigandi concluded.

IPMAN Buys Petrol At N995 Per Litre