Osamagbe Imadiyi
Some oil marketers are now receiving Premium Motor Spirit, also known as gasoline, directly from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery without going through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
Hundreds of millions of liters of imported PMS were expected to reach Nigeria’s shores in two weeks, even though more oil marketers were stepping up their efforts to purchase the product straight from the plant.
Earlier on Monday, it was reported that between Friday, October 18, and Sunday, October 20, at least four ships carrying imported PMS landed at seaports along the country’s borders. According to a document cited in the report that was acquired from the Nigerian Port Authority, two seaports berthed approximately 123.4 million liters of PMS in order to enhance the country’s fuel supply.
The news supported a previous report that revealed oil dealers plan to import the commodity to augment the supply from the $20 billion Dangote refinery. Meanwhile, counterparts of major oil marketers have begun removing PMS straight from the Lekki-based plant as the commodity is imported.
Marketers are now permitted to approach the company for direct business transactions on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis, according to a senior refinery official.
Currently, marketers visit the refinery to lift PMS. The trustworthy official, who spoke in confidence because he lacked the authority to discuss the subject, said, “They are lifting straight from the refinery, not through a third party.”
The source, who was unable to determine the price at which the product was being lifted by marketers, stated that if the price was not favorable to them, the oil dealers would not come. Since the Federal Government started supplying crude to the facility, he added, things are getting better.
Reporters were shown the trucks of certain marketers who loaded the product straight from the plant, bypassing NNPC, by another official at the facility.