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The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has resolved to revert its position on the sale of petrol from N180 per litre to the recommended N165 per litre.
The National President of IPMAN, Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, made the disclosure during a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, saying the association will maintain status quo ante.
The decision has brought reprieve for petrol users who have been suffering over the scarcity of products and payment of higher cost.
Okoronkwo, who urged Nigerians to stop panic buying of petrol said: “The cost of doing business has changed.
“My members in Lagos, before they did what they did, called and told me that they are getting the product at N162 to N165 per litre with transportation aggregating to about N170 to N173.
“Even the N10 which is supposed to be ours has been eroded. What do we do?
“It is only NNPC that imports this product. Don’t blame some of these tank farm owners because the cost of doing business has changed.
“It became so difficult for them to sell at N148.17 but the NNPC and PPMC went to their tank farms and released products. We can now access the product at N148.17.
“Status quo ante must be maintained moving forward. They have told us they have products that can last us up to 32 days.
“We must be happy with that, knowing full well the challenges we have globally on energy. That is why we are thanking them.”
According to him, the loading of the product is ongoing in Lagos. He is hopeful that in a matter of days the queues will disappear.
He thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for making available a N4trillion budgetary provision for subsidy, especially with the current global energy problems caused by the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war.
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He said the association has engaged a consultant to determine how much bridging claims are owed the Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP).
Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Olumide Adeosun, noted that the scarcity was the culmination of a declining supply by the NNPC.
He said at a virtual briefing that supply has been on the decline since May.
He said fuel supply was 438,800MT in April; 213,000MT in May and 140,000MT in June, with 64,000MT being loaded as of Tuesday.
This supply inadequacy, Adeosun noted, combined with the distribution challenges created by the unavailability and continuous surge in international prices of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) compounded the situation.
The association fears that the current supply framework cannot guarantee steady supplies given the current state of government finances and unpredictable international supply shortages.
In the meantime, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it has enough stock of over two billion litres of PMS that would last for at least a month to meet local demand.
