We Can’t Continue To Sell Fuel At N145 Per Litre Under Existing Arrangement, Oil Marketers Tell Presidency

Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN), have made it clear that if they are to return to participate in importation of fuel, they will not be able to sell the product at the existing N145 per litre because there is no profit.
The Chairman of the Association, Dapo Abiodun, who led his team to a meeting initiated by President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Abba Nyari today at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, told news men after the meeting that there has been no subsidy in the budget.
“As far as we are concerned, marketers cannot import and sell at N145. We have to find other ways to manage the situation so that we will continue to sell fuel at N145.”
He insisted that government should find a way to ensure that marketers importing alongside NNPC are assisted in a way that they will continue to sell at N145.
“So when we meet with the minister (of state for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu) tomorrow, we will find solution.”
The chairman said that the Association’s position was made clear at today’s meeting, “and we emphasized the fact that this was not a marketer-related problem. There was no hoarding on the part of any marketer. Marketers are your brothers; they are Nigerian citizens, they are businessmen. No marketer makes money from hoarding petroleum products. Our business is to take petrol and sell.
“We explained that the problem that you saw is not willful on the part of anyone; neither NNPC nor marketers. The situation, from our point of view, is that from January to December, the price of crude remained relatively stable, following the hurricane Katrina in the month of September October. Crude prices went up and marketers lost the ability to import and sell at N145 per liter.
“Since the price of crude is directly proportional to refined product, we could not import petrol and sell at N145 any more. And this business is a partnership between marketers and NNPC. Marketers being in a certain volume and NNPC also brings in a certain volume.
“In the past, marketers brought in about 60 percent, while NNPC brought about 35 to 40 per cent.
“But by the month of October, marketers completely stopped importing because there was no more subsidy, so we can’t sell for profit so we have to stop importing.
“So, the burden of importing 100 percent now fell on NNPC. So, you can imagine a situation where NNPC was importing in part and marketers were importing in part and then suddenly, NNPC began to import 100%. Couple with the fact that in the months we called the ember months, from October to December, the consumption of petrol is highest in the country, so you now have what we called a double warning.
“NNPC suddenly found that it was importing what it probably didn’t expect in terms of volume and the fact that Nigerians themselves are consuming more volume than they will normally consume in earlier months. “Couple with the fact that the countries that are surrounding us as a nation are all selling fuel at more than $1 per liter which today is about N360: if you go to Cotonou, Ghana and Niger, it is not unlikely that some of our petrol is finding itself across the borders to these countries.
“All these are issues we believe amounted to what we saw in December but thankfully, NNPC rose to the occasion. They stepped up import, stepped up supplies that situation has since normalized.
“Today’s meeting is to ensure that this does not happen again and this we are going to continue tomorrow under the committee that was set up, with minister of state for petroleum as chairman; to ensure that we find a long lasting and enduring solutions to this problem so that Nigerians will not have to go through this harrowing situation again.[myad]