There are rising hopes for cheaper Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) is set to begin lifting petrol from Dangote Refinery.
Sources suggest the product could sell between N857 and N865 per litre at filling stations once distribution begins.
NNPCL, the sole off-taker from Dangote Refinery, is expected to lift the product at N960/N980 per litre and sell it to marketers at N840/N850, allowing for a possible reduction in pump prices across the nation.
Currently, petrol sells for N855 per litre at NNPCL retail stations in Lagos, with major marketers offering prices around N920. Independent marketers sell petrol for over N1,000, and prices in other parts of the country are reported to exceed N1,200 per litre.
NEGOTIATIONS
Sources said the new arrangement from the NNPCL and Dangote Refinery negotiations, spanning more than one week, would allow Nigerians to get petrol at between N857 and N865 per litre and represents an average under-recovery of about N130 to NNPCL.
President Bola Tinubu, Sunday Vanguard was made to understand by a Presidency source, made it clear to the negotiating parties that “the price at which petrol would be sold to Nigerians should not be such that would place heavy financial burden on them while dealing with the new reality of the prevailing price”.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, has, meanwhile, expressed optimism that the deal would reduce the pressure on foreign exchange (FX) demands and shore up the value of the Naira – presently, between 30% and 40% of FX demands go into the importation of PMS.
Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd., Olufemi Soneye, who confirmed the readiness of the company to start lifting petrol today, told Sunday Vanguard, yesterday: “NNPC Ltd has started deploying our trucks and vessels to the Dangote Refinery to lift PMS in preparation for the scheduled lifting date of September 15th, as set by the refinery.
