Oil marketing body has said Dangote’s petrol sales in dollars has not taken off as depot prices of the product at the refinery remain unchanged.
President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, while speaking on Arise Television on Wednesday said, though the refinery management made announcement that sale of petroleum products would now be in dollars, it is yet to commence transactions in foreign currencies.
Gillis-Harry, further confirmed his members were still buying products in Naira, the local currency of Nigeria, and further stressed that, PETROAN had not been formally informed that any changes had been made to the sale of products, nor had the prices of fuel risen at the depots as of Wednesday.
“So as far as I know, up until yesterday, our members who bought products are still buying in Nigeria and Naira. And I don’t think that Dangote is looking for how to create any panic in the system.
“But he’s also crying out loud for how the business of the refinery should be stable, which any businessman should do. But as far as buying in US dollars as of today, I cannot confirm that that has happened,” Gillis-Harry added.
Dangote had, on March 19, announced the temporary suspension of the sale of petroleum products in Naira, implying that the company cannot continue to dispense in the local currency while purchasing crude oil in dollars.
In a statement, the facility located in Lagos-owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, stated that, if it continues to sell in Naira, it will experience a mismatch in sales proceeds and crude oil purchases. Since then, although there have been several meetings to sort out the issues, no agreement has been reached.
But Gillis-Harry stated that PETROAN has been at the forefront of the advocacy for Nigerian crude oil to be sold in Naira, stressing that the organisation believes that the policy should continue.
“And if for some reason that decision is going to be reviewed, my opinion is that it should be done in a full stakeholder value chain, so that way we do not just think that the government woke up on just these two policies.
“There is a stakeholder forum that’s already set up for the industry. It’s called the Petroleum Industry Stakeholder Forum that is being headed by the Minister of Petroleum (Oil).
And we believe that this decision should be presented to the stakeholders so we can all make input as to the pros and cons of any of these policies,” PETROAN president stated.
The organisation also stated that, prices of products will continue to fluctuate, dictated by several factors, including landing cost of products, explaining that, it cannot give a commitment on either increase or decrease in prices.
“The price of petroleum products, especially PMS, is dependent on different parameters, mostly the cost for production, cost for delivery, and the total cost of landing. So if there is a shift in any one of these, it will obviously impact the price.
“If the cost goes down, then we’ll have lower prices. If the cost goes up, then we’ll have higher prices. So it’s not fixed, and we do hope that it will keep this up-and-down movement until sometime we’ll be able to deliver it on a particular average,” he added.
Gillis-Harry reiterated an earlier statement by the organisation that Nigerians should not embark on panic buying of products, noting that the circumstances that will determine whether there will be product scarcity or not are not there yet.
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