Stakeholders in the petroleum downstream sector may have to go back to the drawing board as the recent intervention by the Department of State Security has disrupted market trends that has seen the pump price of Petroleum Motor Spirit steadily rise above the official price of N179 per litre.
LEADERSHIP Sunday learnt that economic sabotage by marketers is what led the DSS to make an unprecedented intervention in the supply chain of PMS and getting the commitment of several outlets to sell around the clock.
The product is heavily subsidized and the federal government has budgeted more than N3trn for subsidy payments in the 2023 budget. Oil marketers are however still insisting they bear a significant part of the costs in selling PMS at a subsidized rate.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has for months being warning of an imminent increase in the price of PMS and has also faced accusations of hoarding the product to force the increase.
National Operations Controller of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mike Osatuyi, had recently claimed there has been an increase in depot prices from N165 per litre to N177 and N178 in Lagos, and subsequently, in other parts of the country.
Dismissing accusation of hoarding, marketers have also claimed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company doesn’t have enough stock at hand, which is largely responsible for the scarcity being experienced in most parts of the country.
But the lingering fuel scarcity has been linked to economic sabotage on the part of some major oil stakeholders, LEADERSHIP Sunday investigation has revealed.
This is despite the confirmation by the NNPC on Friday that they have about 1.9 billion litres of fuel at the depot currently.
Highly placed security sources, who spoke to us about the situation, said the problem is actually from the depot down to the marketers and even the fuel stations.
LEADERSHIP Sunday also learnt that the understanding reached between some marketers and the head of Nigeria’s secret police may hinder the resolve of the marketers to forge a common front and make their preferred price the new normal.
The sources explained a situation where some marketers are made to buy fuel at different prices from the original ex-depot prizes and this has led to the difference in pump prices of fuel across the country.
The sources also said another act of economic sabotage is when fuel stations hoard the products and sell secretly to black marketers, who buy at higher prices thereby creating economic problems for motorists, who queue for hours just to get fuel.
All these may have prompted the directive by the Department of State Services (DSS) to oil marketers on Friday that fuel scarcity must end in 48 hours.
The DSS also warned that it will raid all fuel stations and quizz any marketer hoarding fuel, which has led to the lingering fuel scarcity across the country.
This is the outcome of a meeting between the Department of State Services and the NNPC limited, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and other major stakeholders in the oil industry.
This is just as IPMAN has threatened to shut down fillings stations across its jurisdictions if federal government failed to address their various challenges affecting day to day business activities of their members.
Addressing journalists at the IPMAN House, Ibadan, Oyo State, after the general meeting of the association, Alhaji Bukola Mutiu, chairman, IPMAN, Ibadan Depot which covers the entire Oyo, Osun and some parts of Kwara and Ondo States, stressed the need for federal government to address all issues affecting members of the association to avert total closure of filling stations by their members.
Bukola said, “At the meeting that we had this morning, we’ve concluded on some certain issues, we are tired of federal government through NNPC, PPMC because they denied us of our rights, as a registered marketers under PPMC, NNPC Ibadan depot
“We are being denied from paying directly into the NNPC purse to get our supply of petroleum products, especially petrol to our various stations. Over six months now we have been denied payment into the NNPC portal, which has led us to go to private depots to buy petrol at outrageous prices.
“As at today, on the 8th of December 2022, the prevailing prices at all the private depots in Lagos ranges from N215/liter to N233/litre without trucks and other expenses, ” he said.
While highlighting the demands Bukola said, “At our meeting today we resolved as following:
“Because of the masses we would have decided to shut down our stations immediately but because of end of the year which entails travelling of the masses, people will travel to celebrate the festive period with their loved ones, we still want to re-emphasize that if government do not do the needful by allowing us to pay into the NNPC portal as marketer to get the official rate of N148:17kb/litre, starting from next week, we will shut down all our stations in Oyo and Osun states.’’
The DSS spokesperson, Dr Peter Afunanya said the service is ready to take action against any filling stations or marketers, or oil stakeholders who reneged on the agreement reached at the meeting, which would see the disappearance of fuel queue in the next 48 hours.
DSS Gives Marketers 48 Hours To End Fuel Scarcity
The DSS said this was necessary because the Service can not sit back and watch the current scarcity of fuel despite the obvious availability of the product, which could lead to economic sabotage and threat to nation.
The DSS however got commitment from several outlets in the Federal Capital Territory to stay open for 24 hours and sell PMS to motorists.
Filling stations in Abuja, FCT that will operate 24 hours from December 9, 2022. They include NNPC mega stations in Zone 1, Airport Road, Jahi and Zone 4, AA Rano stations in Garki, Katampe, City Gate, Mpape and Nyanya.
Other marketers to sell 24 hours include Danmarna, AYM Shafa, Ardova, Shema and Salbas.
Outside of the FCT, Lagos and Rivers, LEADERSHIP Sunday investigation showed that there is virtually nowhere that PMS sells for less than N240 per litre. The few outlets selling at N179 per litre are owned by the NNPC.
In Niger state, a litre of fuel sells between N179 and N290. Independent marketers, who own most of the stations however sell between N230 and N290 per litre.
Residents of Ekiti State have been groaning under the scarcity of petrol and the increasing fuel pump price of the commodity in the last three weeks or there about.
Before the latest development, major petroleum market were selling between N175 and N180 per litre.
Independent marketers across the state were selling the commodity N195 and N225 per litre.
But since the commencement of the present fuel scarcity, the independent marketers are now selling between N240 and N300, while the major marketers stick to N180 per litre.
The average price of fuel in the state at the moment is pegged at N270 per litre as directed by the special task force set up by the state government to look into the issue of fuel scarcity in the state.
The northeast has been one of the hardest hit regions by the scarcity of petroleum products. Queues of vehicles in some petrol stations are gradually resurfacing in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital
An investigation carried out by Leadership Sunday showed that, in most of the petrol stations where the product is available, a litre is sold for above the official pump price of N185. It is sold at an average of N270 per litre.
In neighboring Gombe, the price of petrol is on the rise in even as the commodity is extremely scarce. Currently, the commodity is sold from N275 to N280 per litre in several filling stations in the state.
In Adamawa state, it is no different as petrol station visited by our correspondent showed motorists are paying through their nose. A litre of petrol is sold at N270.00 as motorists spend night on queue waiting to get the commodity at NNPC filling stations at government approved price.
Fuel plump price in Borno State varies on individual marketers. In some of the petrol stations visited in Maiduguri, the state capital, prices are fixed between N290, 280 and 270, while the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC ) sells at N189.
The same thing is happening in parts of the northwest. The situation at present has stations above the official price. And the pump price in Kebbi state is the same in other states in the part of the country.
Most of the popular filling staions visited by our correspondent, like A. A. Rano, Zumunchi, Shafa and Total along President Muhammadu Buhari way in Birnin Kebbi metropolis are selling at N280, N260 and N215 per litre respectively.
A litre of fuel, where available within Sokoto metropolis is sold at an average cost of N270. At the outskirt, it is sold for N300 a litre.
According to findings LEADERSHIP Sunday, the price of PMS may be highest in the outskirts of Kaduna, where a litre of PMS is as high as N350 in some stations. In Kaduna metropolis, many fueling stations were selling a liter of petrol at N250, while others at N230 per litre to motorists.
In Akwa Ibom, the price of PMS is pegged at N250 per liter and N240 by major marketers like NNPC, Forte Oil, Rain Oil and others, forcing transport operators to jack-up fares by 100 percent. Checks by our correspondent revealed this at the weekend.
The pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) in Rivers State sells between N179 and N240 in different filling stations across the state.
While outlets operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) sell at N179:00 per litre, private filling stations sell at between N180 and N240 per litre.
