Oil Marketers Get New Directive - NNPCL Issues Fresh Circular of Products Prices

About two weeks after the Federal Government announced the removal of fuel subsidy, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has issued a fresh circular to Oil Marketers on how much they will pay to get petroleum products.

In a recent circular, NNPCL Retail, directed Marketers to consider merging their old orders which carry the old fuel price, in order to buy a truck of 45 million litres of petrol. Records show that Marketers had before the deregulation ordered one truck of petrol for about N7.7m. With the new circular, the company advised Marketers who had probably ordered three trucks at N7.5m (N171/litre old price), to merge their orders or ask for a refund.

The memo from NNPCL Retail also read that “Marketers now have the option of consolidating pre-paid self-owned tickets for fresh tickets in line with the revised price. Interested marketers can engage their respective NRL Depot Representative for guidance on how to initiate this option. Also, there is an option for cash refund. Marketers who are interested in initiating this option are supposed to send in official request addressed to the MD NNPC Retail. Upon receipt of the request together with supporting documents, the refund request will be processed”.

The Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mike Osatuyi, confirmed the development. He however said it might be difficult for some Marketers to raise such huge funds required to place an order for petroleum products.

Osatuyi said “The price difference is huge and most can’t afford it. So what we will start seeing is that instead of ordering for one truck, marketers can now go for maybe a quarter or half truck just like it’s being done for diesel”.

He added that “Since NNPC said we consume 66 million litres daily, we are sure that it would drop to as low as 30 million litres soon”, corroborating what a former Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Tunji Oyebanji, had earlier said.

Oyebanji was concerned that an increase in the price of acquiring fuel by the NNPCL, would see smaller downstream companies folding up, and being acquired by bigger companies.