On July 15, 2024, the President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, announced that the $20bn refinery was set to roll out its petrol in August 2024, having resolved its crude oil supply issues through the help of NNPC and the Federal Government.

“Gasoline (petrol) production is to commence in July with sales from August. Annual revenue is projected to exceed $26bn,” Dangote had stated while delivering a presentation at the plant last month.

But oil marketers on Sunday said that no dealer in Nigeria would be able to buy the petrol from the Dangote refinery, because the product would be priced at the international market rate, far higher than the domestic cost at the pumps.

When contacted and asked whether oil marketers had been briefed about the price of petrol from the Dangote refinery, the Deputy National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Zarma Mustapha, gave a negative reply.

He, however, stressed that PMS from the plant would be sold at the international market rate, adding that no marketer would want to pay such price currently.

“There has been no official communication from them yet on pricing for petrol. However, one thing I want you to understand is that even if the Dangote refinery starts to release products, particularly PMS, no marketer can be able to buy the product from him.

This is because the refinery is an independent commercial entity and they must recoup their cost of refining and add some margin before they sell out the product. The current price of the product within the country is below the international price of a litre of PMS.

“So you cannot buy the product from the refinery at the international price and then sell it at the prevailing price at the retail outlets. If you do, you are going to lose a huge amount of money, which is a difference of between N400 and N500/litre,” Mustapha stated.

The IPMAN official, however, noted that for Nigeria to have Dangote petrol across its filling stations, the NNPC would have to intervene by purchasing the product and reselling it to dealers at discounted rates.

“NNPC may have to offtake the product, just like they are importing from other countries for upward supply to Nigerian marketers, I think only the national oil company can offtake PMS from them and know how best they can continue to supply it to marketers to sell at the approved current price.

“If it is not done this way, no marketer will be able to buy the product and sell it at a loss of over N400 to N500/litre. It is not possible” Mustapha stated.

the landing cost of petrol was N1,117/litre as of July 16, 2024, according to data released by the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria. MEMAN disclosed this during a webinar with journalists.

The association had also revealed that the landing cost of diesel was N1,157/litre, while that of aviation fuel was N1,127/litre, at the time.

The N1,117 landing cost of petrol is far above the pump price of the product in Nigeria. Currently, the pump price of petrol is between N660/litre and N800/litre, depending on the area of purchase.

When contacted and asked whether major marketers would be able to buy petrol from the Dangote refinery, the Executive Secretary, MEMAN, Clement Isong, said his group had earlier published the landing cost of PMS, adding that this was the realistic cost of the product.

“You have seen the price we published which is the realistic cost, and you know the cost at the pumps today, and Dangote refinery is a business entity that will not want to make losses. So that is all I will say,” he stated.

NNPC is currently the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria. Other marketers stopped importing the product due to their inability to access the United States dollar required for PMS imports.

Dealers in the downstream oil sector also stated that the registration process for marketers at the refinery was still ongoing, as many operators had continued to register with the plant.

It was further gathered that officials of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority were meeting with the management of the refinery to perfect the pricing template for products produced by the facility.

On January 12, 2023, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced the commencement of production of Automotive Gas Oil, also known as diesel, and JetA1 or aviation fuel.

The President, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, had in a statement issued by the firm, said, “We have started the production of diesel and aviation fuel, and the products will be in the market within this month once we receive regulatory approvals. This is a big day for Nigeria. We are delighted to have reached this significant milestone.

“This is an important achievement for our country as it demonstrates our ability to develop and deliver large capital projects. This is a game changer for our country, and I am very fulfilled with the actualisation of this project.”

Following that announcement seven major oil marketers in Nigeria had registered with the refinery for the lifting and distribution of refined petroleum products produced by the plant.

The seven major marketers include 11 Plc, Conoil Plc, Ardova Plc, MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, OVH Energy Marketing Limited, Total Nigeria Plc and NNPC Retail.

The refinery would supply fuel to about 150,000 retail outlets operated by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria following a meeting between the management of the refinery and executives of IPMAN.

But some Nigerians have expressed concern over the supply of crude to the plant in dollars, and whether this could make the managers of the refinery to sell refined products in dollars, since the plant is located in the free trade zone.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical Project, a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, is a 650,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery, located in Dangote Industries Free Zone, Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria.

Responding to the an enquiry on whether the plant would dispense its products in dollars, the National Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, admitted that it was true that crude oil, being an international commodity, was sold to the plant in dollars.

He, however, said that this would not make the plant to sell refined petroleum products to the Nigerian market in dollars, stressing that other businesses operated in Nigeria by Africa’s richest man were carrying out their transactions in naira.

“The legal tender in Nigeria is the naira. The cement being sold by Dangote Cement is done in naira, not in dollar. The spaghetti and other essential commodities that he is involved in are all sold in naira. So why should one think that he will now sell fuel in dollars? Except for the offshore sales for those who want to move the refined products out of Nigeria using vessels to transport them to other countries. Such customers may get theirs in dollar equivalent,” Ukadike stated.

He, however, noted that another important thing was for the Nigerian government to be able to close up the widening gap in the foreign exchange rate.

“If the exchange rate for the dollar is low, petroleum products would have been cheap in Nigeria, because the products are imported. So I believe that Dangote will definitely sell the products in our local currency, which is naira,” he stated.

Asked if marketers had been briefed on whether products would be sold in naira or dollars, considering the fact that crude was supplied to the plant in dollars, Ukadike replied, “No, the pricing template has not come out. What is going on now is legislation. The template is not yet out.

“And I must state that there is no way the NNPC will bring out its template in naira and Dangote will bring out its own in dollars. It is not possible! So for the cost of their products, I think they are still trying to fix the prices with the regulatory agencies of the Federal Government.

“They will also look at the feasibility of the market and other factors, before announcing their prices for diesel and aviation fuel, which are the products they are producing now. So the price is not out, for once it is out, you’ll be informed.”

Ukadike also stated that more oil marketers were registering with the refinery, adding that IPMAN had been at the forefront of the registration process

“More applications for registration are being sent to the refinery by marketers and I think the process has been ongoing for some time now. It is a good thing for the country to have a refinery that refines its crude domestically,” the IPMAN official stated.

Another major marketer confirmed that the pricing template for refined products from the facility has not been released yet, but noted that there had been a series of meetings with the regulators on this.

Asked whether the pricing template for refined products had been released, the dealer, who pleaded not to be named due to lack of authorisation, replied, “No, not yet. We have not received any template yet, not to my knowledge.

“But it is possible that the template should be out soon because various meetings by officials of the refinery with dealers and regulators have been ongoing lately. The meetings are to give insights about activities at the plant. And I believe the template is going to be in naira.”

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is an industrial plant that transforms crude oil into various usable petroleum products such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and kerosene.

Dangote Petroleum Refinery with a capacity to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day covers an area of approximately 2,635 hectares in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos.

The refinery has so far received six million barrels of crude oil at its two SPMs located 25km from the shore. The first crude delivery was done on December 12, 2023, and the 6th cargo was delivered on January 8, 2024.

The refinery can load 2,900 trucks a day at its truck-loading gantries. The products from the refinery will conform to Euro V specifications, according to the firm.

IPMAN ‘s Public Relations Officer, Okanlawon Olanrewaju, disclosed this while speaking in an interview with Channels Television, warning Nigerians against panic buying of petrol.

Oil marketers had said that subsidy on petrol was increasing considering the crash of the naira against the United States dollar and the cost of crude oil, stressing that PMS should sell for N1,200/litre in a free market.

Though the possibility of another hike in pump price has been dismissed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, on Wednesday, many Nigerians are still apprehensive

Meanwhile, IPMAN ‘s PRO assured that oil marketers can not unilaterally increase the price of fuel until told otherwise by NNPCL.

“As far as the independent marketers are concerned, we don’t have plans or plans to increase fuel pump price

“There is no basis for that for now. There is no signal from NNPC that we should increase. So, we cannot do that on our own except NNPC comes out and says we are going to increase pump price. On our own, there is nothing like that.

“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the public to stop panic buying. There is nothing like that (fuel price increment). It is just a rumour, ” he said.

President Bola Tinubu had in his May 29 inauguration said the 2023 budget made no provision for fuel subsidy and that it was no longer justifiable.

The declaration saw petrol per litre jumping from around N184 to over N600 in several parts of the country. The removal of fuel subsidy also came with attendant economic crises with inflation moving to an all-time high

It was also gathered that crude oil refiners were currently releasing refined petroleum products on credit to dealers from Nigeria, following the recent unification of the country’s exchange, which boosted the confidence of operators.

This came as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria told our correspondent that they would compete with the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on the importation of petrol, stressing that this would crash the cost of PMS.

Before the President, Bola Tinubu, removed subsidy on petrol, the product was solely imported by NNPCL, as other marketers stopped its imports due to their inability to access the United States dollar.

At the time, oil marketers explained that the NNPCL was accessing the dollar at a lower rate, which was unfair and did not support PMS importation by other dealers.

But with the recent unification of the exchange rate, oil marketers had to join in the importation of petrol and confirmed that the products should be arriving Nigeria from next week.

Asked to state when the products being imported by major marketers would start hitting Nigeria, the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, replied, “I will simply say between the second and third week of July”

Isong, however, explained that the NNPCL had made a lot of fuel imports, as some of its vessels were still on the way to Nigeria.

“Let me say that NNPCL has imported significantly to prevent the country from running dry. The vessels NNPCL imported are offshore Nigeria, so they have a significant volume, therefore in all circumstances the country will not run dry.

“So the options everybody has is that they can buy from NNPCL ex-depots or they can go and import from Europe or from other places. The assignment is that you compare your price if you buy from NNPCL or import from Europe.

“More or less, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. So do your calculation as the best as you can. But you will only know the full impact when the product is in your tank. If it goes right, it is then that you will know how competitive your price is. The more you do it, the more efficient you become,” Isong stated.

On how marketers were sourcing of forex for imports, the MOMAN officials dealers were accessing the foreign exchange from banks and other sources.

“People access forex from different places. Just that it is easier for some people than others. Some people have strong banks, while others have other means of accessing forex. So everyone plays on their strength and ability to access forex.

“And it must be stated that the floating of the exchange rate is a plus, for instance, some people can go and get credits from their suppliers, while others have LCs (Letters of Credits), means of borrowing, etc.

But the most important thing is that there is a unified exchange rate and that makes people more confident in going to import. There is no unfair advantage, where in the past some persons have access to low exchange rates,” Isong stated.

Explaining what he meant by saying some dealers could get credit from suppliers, he said, “If you have a good relationship with your supplier, they can give you products on credit. It is a function of the relationship you have with your supplier.

Obviously, the way the market works, if you have it on credit you pay a little bit more.”

The Chairman of IPMAN South-west Zone, Dele Tajudeen, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday, June 30.

While asking Nigerians not to engage in panic buying and disregard the rumors, Tajudeen said

“I want to disabuse the mind of the people that they should not panic about it, there is no cause for alarm, we are in control, and there is nothing like that. So, people should be rest assured that there is no way they can buy petrol more than the price it is being sold now. If we look at the price from NNPC retail limited, which is an integral part of NNPC limited, they have more advantages than independent marketers and major marketers. So, it was the retail price that they announced they had never given a specific price to the independent marketers. However, I have read what somebody put into the paper; it is just speculation and not a reality. Nothing like that. I want to assure the masses.

There is no how the price can go to N700 as we speak because even if the FX is N700 or N800, that has not nothing to take the price of petroleum from N500 to N700” Tajudeen said

He noted that the product had been deregulated. Hence, the price differential was due to transportation as it is related to location.

”If you are moving products within Lagos, the price may not be more than N300,000, but if you are moving up to Ibadan or thereabout, it could be as much as N500,000. And if you are going to Ilorin, it could be as high as N700,000, that would account for the differential in prices. I want to say with all sense of authority that as of today, within Lagos metropolis, nobody should sell more than N515 to N520 per litre.

Though NNPC has given us the price but the reality of it is that what we buy from the market; because NNPC limited is not the only source for our product; we get from private depots. So, whatever we buy is what we put our own margin and sell.

But as of today, the highest you can get anywhere should be around N550; Lagos N510 per litre; Ogun State between N500 and N520” Tajudeen said

Tinubu had earlier on Monday, in Abuja, affirmed that his administration would not continue to pay subsidy on petroleum products.

He said given the high opportunity cost the Federal Government was suffering to fund subsidies, it was no longer justifiable to continue.

“The fuel subsidy is gone!” Tinubu exclaimed during his inaugural address at Eagle Square, Abuja, shortly after he was sworn-in as the 16th President of Nigeria.

The President said “Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources. We shall instead re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.

“We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor.”

Tinubu said since there was no provision for subsidy in the budget from June 2023, and it stands removed.

On his economic agenda for the next four years, Tinubu said his administration would target a minimum annual GDP growth of six per cent. To do this, the new government will enact budgetary and tax reforms that will boost the economy and address multiple taxation that stymies foreign direct investment.

“On the economy, we target a higher GDP growth and to significantly reduce unemployment. We intend to accomplish this by taking the following steps: First, budgetary reform stimulating the economy without engendering inflation will be instituted.

“Second, industrial policy will utilize the full range of fiscal measures to promote domestic manufacturing and lessen import dependency.

“Third, electricity will become more accessible and affordable to businesses and homes alike. Power generation should nearly double and transmission and distribution networks improved. We will encourage states to develop local sources as well.”

To foreign and local investors, he said “Our government shall review all their complaints about multiple taxation and various anti-investment inhibitions. We shall ensure that investors and foreign businesses repatriate their hard-earned dividends and profits home.”

However, reacting on Monday, IPMAN said it was opposed to the new president’s subsidy removal plan.

The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, said the new government should dialogue with marketers before taking the decision to remove subsidy.

“We are not in support of the removal of fuel subsidy at this time. We have said it repeatedly that our refineries should be fixed before taking such decision that will cause galloping inflation and inflict more hardship on the masses.

“The government of President Tinubu should not adopt what is in the transition document handed over to it by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Someone (Buhari) who for eight years did not remove subsidy is advising a new government to remove it.

“That is not fair and should not be adopted. Rather the new government should sit and discuss with marketers and other stakeholders on how to manage the fuel subsidy regime. We now have the Dangote Refinery, but all our refineries are still not working, so we don’t think removing subsidy is the right thing to do now,” Ukadike stated.

He said IPMAN was ready to work with the new government and would proffer measures to address the fuel  subsidy regime, instead of effecting an outright halt in subsidy.

When contacted to state their position on the issue, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria stated that it would not comment on the development now, as it was currently studying the new administration.

“We wouldn’t want to comment on the fuel subsidy removal matter now because we are still studying the situation and the new government of President Tinubu,” the General Secretary, PENGASSAN, Lumumba Okugbawa, stated.

It was gathered on Saturday that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, security agencies and the downstream regulator had all agreed that petrol be sold at N195/litre.

Oil marketers said the agreement was reached at a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, as participants resolved that beginning from Monday, February 6, 2023, the pump price of petrol should not exceed N195/litre, a development which dealers, particularly independent marketers, described as tough due to the high ex-depot price of the commodity.

They told our correspondent that to avoid having their outlets sanctioned, many filling stations operated by independent marketers would be shut from Monday as it made no business sense to sell a product lower than the cost price.

This is likely to further prolong the petrol scarcity and queues in many parts of the country as independent marketers control about 80 per cent of filling stations nationwide.

IPMAN’s National President, Debo Ahmed, told our correspondent that the approved ex-depot price of petrol was recently raised from N148/litre by the NNPCL to N172/litre, but depots hardly dispense the commodity at this cost.

Ahmed, who was reacting to the notice to members issued by the Public Relations Officer, IPMAN Ibadan Depot branch, Mojeed Adesope, stated that marketers were advised to sell the product in stock now before the enforcement begins on Monday.

In the memo, which was sighted on Saturday, Adesope said, “The top management of NNPC, other relevant authorities in the downstream sector of the economy as well as all the security agents in the country met at on Tuesday, January 31, 2023 to begin the enforcement of pump price of PMS at N195/litre at all the filling stations across the country with Immediate effect.

“Towards that end, enforcement will commence effective from Monday, February 6, 2023 to enable you to dispose of all your remaining stock on or before the enforcement date.

“Members are hereby implored not to purchase products that they would not be able to dispense at N195/litre. The above information should be given wider spread/circulation in order not to get any member caught unawares. You are strongly advised to heed this information.”

Commenting on this, the national president of IPMAN said the information was in order as he urged other independent marketers to take note.

Ahmed stated, “The information is in order, because the depots that the NNPC gives products to are selling at a higher price, and IPMAN members will not like to leave their stations idle. And to avoid sanctions, it is better to close your station.

“So what is going to happen in essence is that marketers have to buy products using the NNPCL loading tickets, and if they don’t have the tickets, all they have to do is to close down their stations. You have to buy from the NNPCL in order to sell at the government regulated price.”

He said the NNPCL was the only importer and it often gave the product to DAPPMAN to sell to IPMAN members at a regulated rate.

Ahmed added, “They also give the product to MOMAN to sell through the stations of major marketers, but DAPPMAN has to sell to independent marketers because independent marketers do not have depots.

“The 21 NNPCL depots across the country that we rely on before now are all moribund and not working. So right now, we depend on DAPPMAN depots to get our products at the price approved by the NNPCL.

“But most times, DAPPMAN would increase their price and when you buy from them at such a high price, there is no way you are going to sell at a lower price. So, that memo is telling marketers that if they cannot get the NNPCL product to buy at the controlled price, they better not sell to avoid having their stations sealed.”

When asked for the approved price that the government, through the NNPCL, had asked depot owners to sell, Ahmed replied, “In fact, there is a lot of confusion.

“As of today, we are supposed to buy at N172/litre from the NNPCL designated depots run by DAPPMAN. But if you get there at times, you don’t buy at that price; rather, you buy at higher rates.

“Before it was N148/litre, but all of a sudden, the NNPCL just did what it did and increased the price to N172/litre, which was why they said the retail price should now be N185/litre.”

He explained that the N172 ex-depot price was without the cost of conveying petrol to wherever the marketer was taking the product to.

The oil marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria claimed they had   get fuel, despite the assurances from the Managing Director of the NNPCL Retail, Hubb Stocksman, in December that they would receive direct product supply at the government-regulated price of N148/litre from this month.

We have yet to see any product supply. Well, the man (Stockman) has been in Nigeria for some time now and is probably beating us to our game. He’s playing politics and we don’t see the situation abating soonest,” the Chairman of Satellite Depot, IPMAN, Akin Akinrinade said

The IPMAN official said this as fuel queues worsened on Wednesday.

Akinrinade added that marketers as of last Friday bought products from the depots at between N235-N240 per litre, saying there was no way they would sell products below N270/litre even within the Lagos metropolis.

On what could be the lasting solution to fuel scarcity, he advised the Federal Government to revive the refineries to enable local production.

“The lasting solution is for the refineries to start functioning and we begin local refining,” he said.

Also speaking, the National Operations Controller of IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, told The PUNCH that the removal of fuel subsidy and deregulation was the key to resolving the fuel scarcity menace.

“The permanent solution is to deregulate and remove subsidies. Allow the market to be a free market, where marketers other than the NNPC will be able to bring in products. Since the government said the subsidy would be removed in June, let’s wait and see, but until then, we have to manage,” he said

The Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Olumide Adeosun, also said the deregulation of the downstream sector would eradicate fuel scarcity.

“Having subsidised PMS for so long, Nigerian institutions now have a diminished capacity to deal with the current local energy crisis. A disruption in any part of the supply chain causes ripple effects and results in queues at stations. As a country, we must begin the process of price deregulation to reduce this inefficient subsidy,” he said.

According to him, if the country wishes to implement a subsidy, it must be in areas targeted to help those it should help such as in agriculture and transportation to reduce food inflation and generate more jobs for Nigerians.

He said, “We must find a way to liberalise supply. We must bring transparency and competition into supply to ensure steadier, more efficient supply at optimum prices. Imported products must compete with locally refined products to find a meeting point between the need for local refining and competitively low but cost-recovered prices for Nigerians for sustainability.

“The exploration, production, refining of crude oil and the distribution of refined products is an international business with ebbs and flows and has specific models, guidelines, rules, and norms designed to protect and sustain consumers of this type of energy and populations impacted by its supply chain. The government and the industry in Nigeria must demonstrably apply this accepted health, safety, environmental protection, and quality norms to be seen to care for its local populations. To cut corners would be irresponsible, unaccountable, and unsustainable.”

Long fuel queues were still seen across Lagos on Wednesday. Some motorists were seen queuing up for N170 per litre of fuel at stations belonging to MOMAN members, but stations belonging to IPMAN members rarely had customers, as those who could afford products sold for N250/litre and above, were seen freely driving in and out of their (IPMAN) stations.

Findings showed that while MOMAN members get fuel directly from NNPCL at a government-deregulated price of N148/litre, IPMAN members patronise private depots where prices are determined by market indices.

The Executive Secretary for the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, Olufemi Adewole, had told The PUNCH that just like the NNPCL, its members were on a “recover all” regime, adding that its members faced high costs of renting vessels, illegal fees, lack of forex at Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate among others, as reasons behind increasing prices of products.

The spokesperson for NNPCL, Garba Deen, could not be reached on his official line for his comment on the lingering fuel crises.

Meanwhile, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Mele Kyari, on Wednesday said the oil firm was comfortable with the policy of the Federal Government on the subsidy of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, despite the trillions of naira being spent subsidising the commodity.

He also announced that Nigeria’s crude oil and condensates production climbed to as high as 1.52 million barrels per day towards the end of December 2022.

Marketers, under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited refused to give its members products, and that they bought at N205 from third parties.

National Controller Operations, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, said that members of the association had bought products for N205 and would add N13 transportation to the cost.

“NNPC refuses to give us fuel. We buy from third parties and can sell at any price because if the landing cost to our stations is N218 per litre, how much do you expect us to sell? So the public should expect fuel at any price, depending on the area,” he said.

Spokesperson for NNPCL, Garba Deen Mohammed, could not be reached for his reaction.

Spokesperson for the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, had on Wednesday said that the association had held a logistics meeting with the NNPC.

The situation was worse in Ikosi-Ketu, Arepo area of New Lagos, Obalende, Maryland and Iju-shaga in Lagos State.

Commuters lamented the hike in prices of transportation fares in the state on Monday and Tuesday, as petrol was sold between N195 and N200 per litre.

Queues were also reported along the Alausa Secretariat road, as the NNPC (former Oando) was closed to motorists. The same situation was also noticed at Total filling stations in Ojota and Palm Grove.

Stations such as Mobil and Fatgbems along Berger also had long queues and sold at N200/litre.

Long queues were also reported at Lekki.

Heyden filling station at Ilupeju, though sold fuel, had a long queue of vehicles waiting to buy the product.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria blamed it on the depots and the increasing difficulty in accessing petroleum products.

National Controller, Operations, IPMAN, Mike Osatuyi, said that members of the association could not get sufficient products at the depots.

“No fuel. Even when we were able to get small quantity, DAPPMAN sold it to us at N200/N202 per litre. By the time we transport it to our stations, the cost would be around N210/litre,” he said.

He added that getting petrol to members’ filling stations from the depots now cost as much as N200 per litre in some instances.

DAPPMAN’s Chairman, Dame Williams Akpani, had, during a chat, told The PUNCH that the fuel crises persisted due to logistics challenges.

She said bad roads, resulting in petrol trucks taking one week instead of three days to arrive in Abuja from Lagos, was also responsible.

Akpani added that the bad Abuja road network had led to breakdown of petroleum trucks, which according to her, had resulted in apathy on the part of the drivers in taking products to the federal capital.

Spokesperson for state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Garba Deen Mohammed, could not be reached for comment as his phone was switched off as of press time. Messages sent to his phone were not also delivered.

Meanwhile, oil marketers are lamenting what they call the imposition of a 0.5 per cent tax on the gross turnover of the petroleum  by the Finance Act.

The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association’s Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, on the sideline of the maiden edition of the Platforms Africa Continental Forum held on Monday in Lagos, said the tax could shut down businesses and also fuel scarcity crisis if the Federal Government went ahead to implement the new tax regime.

Adewole explained that petroleum marketing firms’ trading margins were too small, and that they would not afford to pay such an amount sustainably.

Adewole said, “Petroleum marketers operate a very low margin, but the turnover is very huge. Unfortunately, the margin does not correspond with the turnover.”

He disclosed that the margins marketers were getting when a litre of fuel sold for N40 was the same they were still getting when it rose to N160 and N200.

According to him, “The Finance Act 2020 says the marketers have to pay 0.5 per cent from their gross turnover by the end of this year.

It is unimaginable that probably, half of the petroleum marketing firms existing now may go under if the new tax regime is implemented, except the regulator, which is the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, approves a new margin for the marketers,” he said.

It would be recalled that oil marketers had recently lamented scarcity of foreign exchange, which, according to them, threatened the importation and distribution of petroleum products across the country.

The fuel queues were coming on the heels of a letter dated October 28, 2022, by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers to the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, over harassment, intimidation and extortion of petroleum tanker drivers by some community youths under the name, Indigenous Unity Forum.

Part of the letter read, “We are deeply constrained to bring to your urgent attention, the unwholesome activities of some criminal elements parading themselves along Lekki Free Trade Zone Road, Eleko Ibeju, Lekki, as community youths under the name of Indigenous Unity Forum, harassing, intimidating, and extorting money from every petroleum truck drivers, who are NUPENG/PTD members plying the road.

“We have no other obligation than to demand that your Excellency, as a matter of urgency, put a final stop to the unwholesome activities of these criminals and similar elements across the state. Otherwise, we would have no other option than to direct our members, for the sake of the safety of their lives and property, to stay off the entire Lagos State until sanity, law and order are restored.”