Oil marketers to Tinubu: Probe NNPC, DAPPMA over high ex-depot price

By Abubakar Yunusa

Oil marketers have called on President Bola Tinubu to look into the activities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
In a statement on Monday, the oil marketers, who preferred anonymity, alleged shady deals between NNPC, DAPPMA, and the NMDPRA.
The marketers also called for a downward review of the ex-depot price of petrol, adding that NNPC, being the sole importer of petrol, now put them “at the mercy of DAPPMA (the tank farm owners)”.
They said the NNPC sells petrol to the private depot owners operating under the DAPPMA at ex-depot price of N556.5 per litre.
However, the tank farm owners, according to the retailers, sell petrol to oil marketers at N700-N740 per litre, leaving them with little or no marginal profit to sell at retail stations.
The oil marketers urged the federal government to sanitise the distribution chain by pressing the NNPC and its regulatory arm, the NMDPRA, to insist on an ex-depot price for the tank farm owners.
They recalled the prior experience in the sector, when the NNPC used to release petroleum products allocation to tank farm owners for distribution to marketers with a benchmark on price.
“What we used to have in the past was an arrangement where the NNPCL gave allocations meant for Indepedent marketers to the private depot owners to sell to marketers with a benchmark, a reasonable price,” the marketers said.
“Now, the indepedent marketers have no allocation, they are at the mercy of the tank farm owners. A situation where there is no ex-depot price won’t augur well for the industry. Private depot owners now sell at N800 to those of us who will sell at retail outlets to ordinary Nigerians.
“We are the ones Nigerians are accusing of hoarding products and selling at exorbitant prices.”
The marketers said the midstream regulatory agency is using the oil marketers as scapegoats rather than doing its duty of shining a light on their operations by demanding ex-depot prices.
“There is a cabal in the sector creating problem for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He must show the determined will to break their rank. How many stations do tank farm owners have? But they are making huge profits to the detriment of Nigerians,” the marketers said.
To address the shortage of products, the marketers expressed hope that providing the Dangote refinery with the proper incentives would help.
They also urged the federal government to ensure the four refineries work together to stop importing products.