Osamagbe Imadiyi
Some filling stations have begun hoarding Premium Motor Spirit, commonly referred to as gasoline, since the Dangote Petroleum Refinery banned the sale of petroleum products in naira. The retailers anticipate that the price of gasoline will increase soon due to the Federal Government’s failure to continue selling crude oil to the Dangote refinery in local currency, so they are keeping the product in storage to ensure they have enough to sell at a higher rate. Nonetheless, the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Marketers Association cautioned these merchants against engaging in panic buying since it could result in significant losses.
Following the apparent failure of the naira-for-crude negotiations between it and NNPCL, the Dangote refinery announced last week that it had temporarily stopped selling petroleum products in naira. The refinery, which can produce 650,000 barrels per day, bemoaned the discrepancy between its sales revenue and its commitments to buy crude oil, which are currently valued in US dollars. The price of loading gasoline at private depots in Lagos skyrocketed to roughly N900/liter right after the announcement. Prior to the announcement, the price per liter was less than N850.
In an interview on Sunday, Chinedu Ukadike, IPMAN’s National Publicity Secretary, claimed that while some filling station owners were rushing to stockpile fuel, depot owners were making money. He claims that since Dangote’s announcement on Wednesday, there has been an increase in demand for PMS. In order to increase their profits, depot owners allegedly raised their prices. The refinery has yet to inform marketers about the future purchase of PMS by the dealers, five days after the announcement. Private depot owners quickly raised their prices in anticipation of a potential increase in the price of gasoline. Owners of filling stations are already buying to resell for more money if the price goes up in the future, even though they have not raised their prices yet.
However, Ukadike denounced depot owners for taking advantage of the stalemate between the Federal Government and the Dangote refinery, claiming that this was detrimental to the economy. He cautioned marketers that the Dangote refinery might cause a price crash, so they should not buy in a panic. The Federal Government and the Dangote refinery are clearing up their miscommunication so that the naira crude sales can resume, according to the IPMAN spokesperson. He stated that stakeholders are waiting to hear the conclusion from either party.
