It was confusion galore yesterday in the oil sector after Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) increased the price of petrol to N185 per litre while the Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, denied any such increase.

He said mischief makers were the brains behind the claims of increase in the price of fuel.

Yet the fuel scarcity continued across the country amidst claims by the deputy president of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Zarma Mustapha, that petrol supply to marketers by private depots had dropped by about 40 per cent.

Mobil, Conoil, TotalEnergies, Nipco, Enyo, Forte and NORTH-WEST filling stations in Lagos adjusted their pump price early yesterday to reflect N185 per litre against N169 previously.

Motorists in Lagos who had queued for several hours at the filling stations were shocked to see the adjusted price.

Some other major filling stations in Lagos metropolis, especially Ikeja and Agege areas, did not dispense fuel.

Some marketers, who preferred anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the federal government had begun the subsidy withdrawal, urging marketers to adjust their pump price.

The marketers claimed that government might have commenced a gradual removal of petrol subsidy.

No fuel price increase, says Sylva

However, Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, denied any increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

He said in a statement through his Senior Adviser (Media & Communications), Horatius Egua, that President Muhammadu Buhari has not approved any price increase for PMS.

His words: “President Muhammadu Buhari has not approved any increase in the price of PMS or any other petroleum product for that matter. There is no reason for President Muhammadu Buhari to renege on his earlier promise not to approve any increase in the price of PMS at this time.

“Mr President is sensitive to the plight of the ordinary Nigerian and has said repeatedly that he understands the challenges of the ordinary Nigerian and would not want to cause untold hardship for the electorate.

“Government will not approve any increase of PMS secretly without due consultations with the relevant stakeholders.

“The President has not directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) or any agency for that matter to increase the price of fuel.

“This is not the time for any price increase in pump price of PMS.

“What is playing out is the handiwork of mischief makers and those planning to discredit the achievements of Mr President in the oil and gas sector of the economy.

“I appeal to Nigerians to remain calm and law abiding as the government is working hard to bring normalcy to fuel supply and distribution in the country.”

Other stakeholders feign ignorance of hike

Other critical stakeholders either feigned ignorance of the development or were out of reach to respond to reporters’ enquiries.

Several sources in the Nigeria Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA), the industry regulator, said they were not aware of any price increase.

NMDPRA’s spokesman, Kimchi Apollo, could also not be reached on his mobile phone for comments.

The Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Clement Isong’s mobile phone was also “not reachable.”

The Chief Communications Officer, NNPCL, Garba Deen Muhammad, did not respond to the calls put through to him.

The National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Okonkwo, in a telephone chat with The Nation, said he was in the dark as to the directive leading to the price hike.

“We have not been communicated by any official or regulator on the N185 per litre petrol price, so we are also in the dark on this like every other Nigerian.

“Government has also not said anything about it openly. So I cannot comment on what I am not aware of. Mmaybe by Monday we will have a clearer picture of the development,” Okonkwo said.

The development has fueled speculations that the federal government may have subtly begun the removal of subsidy on petrol and by extension, a complete deregulation of the sector, which for long has been the clamour of both MOMAN and IPMAN.

In 2022, the federal government spent over N6 trillion on subsidy.

But Okonkwo said the sector remained regulated.

He said: “For us as IPMAN, we are still in the regime of subsidy. But I tell you, deregulation is the way to go on this matter.

“We should pray for the availability of the product, because when it is not available, you will be tempted to look for it in any way.

“The operating environment is very harsh even to NNPC, because they import the product and dollar is increasing in value against the naira. Everything around petrol is ‘dollarised’ even for charges that we pay for locally like NIMASA and NPA charges.

“All the other costs associated with petrol are also charged in dollar. Government needs to remove the dollar business around petrol especially for those we can do locally. When this is done, prices will also go down.”

Supply to oil marketers down by 40% – IPMAN

Speaking on live television yesterday on the fuel scarcity, IPMAN deputy president, Zarma Mustapha, admitted that there was some confusion in the sector and independent marketers do not “really understand what is going on.”

He also said supply to marketers by private depots has dropped by about 40 per cent.

The volume of petrol imported by NNPC, according to him, has been affecting ‘paucity of the funds’ of the federal government.

He said: “Because of that, the supply that we receive as marketers at the loading points, we believe we don’t get what we usually get – even 50 per cent of what we get.

“Some [time] in July, August, the volume of liftings we had and what we have today has dropped by about 50 percent or 40 per cent.”

Mustapha added that the lingering presence of queues at fuel stations across the country could be due to the high cost of the subsidy.

“We are just assuming maybe the volume of the products they are bringing in – the more the volume, the more the cost of the subsidy.”

“It doesn’t seem that they are bringing in more. If they’re bringing in more, we would be having the same volume that we usually get at the loading point.

“As of today, with what is trending at the private depots, the volume available is not enough. The private depots also contribute by not giving the product as it is being regulated by the NNPC.”

The IPMAN deputy president said the regulatory body would be in the best position to answer the public and give details on why and how the price was adjusted to the new one.

“The price was not done to only appease the marketers but to ensure that the supply chain is being sustained, because the marketers are also in business and you can’t lift a product, resell it and you’re not making any returns on it, I don’t think anybody will continue to do that.

“We’re in a very dicey situation. NNPC imports, distributes to private depots and note that we independent marketers don’t have the depots as I am talking to you today, I brought the product from a depot in Lagos at N247 per litre to be transported down to far North at the cost of N50 to N60 per litre. Not the fancy prices we are seeing.

“Even we ourselves as independent marketers, we don’t understand what is really happening. We have raised our concerns to the regulatory bodies and have told them what we’re experiencing.

“We are supposed to get this product at N148 but we are buying at N220 and it keeps increasing.N240 in Lagos, N235 in Warri, N240 in Port Harcourt, in Calabar it is as high as N250 per litre for marketers, and you buy and transport yourself to where your retail outlet is.

“There is a lot of confusions in the industry, which the government must come in and address these confusions so that the common man can get the product for the approved price. We cannot buy the product between 220 to 240 naira, transport it for about N50, which is already N300, then expect the marketer to sell to the public for N200 or N190. It is not realisable.”

Stop fuel diversion, trucks hijack to end fuel scarcity, ANRPM tells FG

The Association of Nigeria refineries Petroleum Marketers (ANRPM) advised the federal government to check fuel diversion and hijack of trucks to end the current scarcity of fuel in some parts of the country.

It also cautioned marketers and distributors against engaging in petroleum products diversion and trucks hijacking.

South-West Zonal Chairman of the ANRPM, Hon Iwalewa Olatubosun, said in Akure yesterday that the association was ready to join the fight against products adulteration, pipeline vandalism, oil theft, illegal bunkering and sundry criminal activities in the oil sector

Olatubosun said the association would take stringent measures to ensuring that any of its members caught perpetrating the act would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

The fuel scarcity persisted yesterday across the country.

The filling stations that had fuel sold at various prices ranging between N250 and N400 per litre.

Road side hawkers also kept exploiting motorists who could not afford to queue and buy at a cheaper price.

Fuel was available in many parts of Edo State but at high prices.

A litre cost as much as N400 in Kaduna black markets.

Lagos back-pedals on order restricting sales

The Lagos State Government withdrew its order stopping filling stations on the state’s highways from dispensing fuel by 4.00pm.

The government had on Thursday, ordered all filling stations on the state’s highways to operate between 9.00am and 4.00pm each day.

However, Transportation Commissioner, Frederic Oladeinde, in a statement yesterday said government had noticed the reactions generated by its directive to major and independent petroleum marketers operating on major roads.

He said the measure was to stop the traffic congestion that had resulted from their activities and that it was not to compound the hardship motorists and commuters had experienced because of the lingering fuel shortage.

“Following assurances from some of the offending filling stations, the 9am to 4pm restriction will no longer be enforced.

“For the avoidance of doubt, filling stations are not restricted from doing their business, but fuel marketers have a responsibility to ensure that their activities do not cause any disruption whatsoever to traffic flow. It is against the law to impede the free flow of traffic on our roads.

“Traffic Management Agencies have been directed to invoke the law should any marketer be found to have allowed queues on its premises spill onto major roads in a disorderly manner that impedes traffic flow,” Oladeinde said. (The Nation)

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