The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited may reduce premium motor spirit price in response to Dangote Refinery’s ex-depot price reduction.
The development comes as some petroleum marketers with imported fuel risk huge losses over Dangote Refinery’s price reduction.
National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, in a statement, hinted that NNPCL may reduce its ex-depot and retail prices of petrol in response to Dangote Refinery’s price reduction.
Dangote Refinery had on Saturday reduced its ex-depot price of petrol to N890 per litre from N950.
Reacting, Gillis-Harry believes that NNPCL may follow Dangote Refinery’s step to cut its fuel retail price to remain relevant in the petrol deregulated market.
“There is an evident possibility that the NNPC will reduce prices,” he stated.
The implication is that NNPCL, which currently sells petrol at N965 per litre, may reduce its price downward.
This is as DANGOTE Refinery and petrol distribution partners, such as MRS filling have slashed retail petrol to below N940 per litre nationwide.
Meanwhile, marketers have lamented that the Dangote Refinery petrol reduction comes with a negative impact on their businesses.
The Vice President and the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, Hammed Fashola and Chinedu Ukadike, respectively, said that marketers who bought fuel at the old price would be forced to sell at losses due to the latest Dangote Refinery price cut.
According to Fashola, the immediate negative impact on some petroleum marketers is that they would have to sell at losses.
“When this happens (Dangote Refinery petrol reduction), the only option a marketer has is to bring down the price. Because if you don’t do that, the competition will set in,” he stated.
On his part, Ukadike stressed that “that is why marketers fear lifting fuel because of the price scare. They will not want to suffer collateral losses.”
Meanwhile, some marketers are of the view that Dangote Refinery made the strategic move to cut its petrol price because of the lower landing cost of imported PMS.
Consequently, marketers who imported at N970 per litre, higher than the latest Dangote Refinery’s ex-depot price of N890, will be forced to sell at losses.
“So, if you have a N950 product with you, within two to three days, you will not have an option but to bring it down due to the Dangote Refinery’s petrol price of N890 per litre.
“That is the situation marketers are facing now, but we have to cope with it. It is the marketer who bears the losses,” Fashola stated.
Newsmen recall that petroleum products retailers, PETROAN, announced that they have started lifting fuel and other petroleum products at Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
