Marketers Say They Can’t Sell Petrol at N125/litre

• Marketers Say They Can’t Sell Petrol at N125/litre

The Nigerian private marketers said it was impossible to sell Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol at N125 per litre as directed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday.

While NNPC owned filling stations have started selling at N125 per litre, private filling stations like Oando, Mobil, Capital Oil and Gas, etc continues to sell at N145 per litre.

According to one of the top officials of the fuel marketers’ association, the issue was the difference in the price of the old stock and the new deliveries.

“What we are asking the government is that: who is going to pay us between the old price and the new price on our old stock? And without them verifying our old stock and telling us what they will pay us and when they will pay us, we will not load,” he stated.

He explained that private marketers would continue to sell at old price pending when the issue would be resolved.

“Marketers are holding their strategy session. We will have a common front. The GMD (of NNPC) has invited us for a stakeholders’ meeting, which should have been done before the announcement of the new price. By the end of today, we will have a clearer picture of how they are going to involve us,” he added.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had stated on Wednesday that the dropped in global oil prices had forced down the landing cost per litre, therefore, it was important to adjust Expected Open Market Price to reflect the difference.

“Therefore, Mr President has approved that Nigerians should benefit from the reduction in the price of PMS which is a direct effect of the crash in global crude oil prices,” Timipre Sylva, stated.

Also, Mallam Mele Kyari, the Managing Director, NNPC, said the price of petrol has been reviewed down from N117.6/litre to N99.44/litre as of March 19, 2020.

He said, “Effective March 19, 2020, NNPC ex-coastal price for PMS has been reviewed downwards from N117.6/litre to N99.44/litre while the ex-depot price is reduced from N133.28/litre to N113.28/litre.

“These reductions will, therefore, translate to N125/litre retail pump price. Despite the obvious cost implication of this immediate adjustment to the corporation, NNPC is delighted to effect this massive reduction of N20/litre for the benefit of all Nigerians.”

However, without addressing the difference in the price of inventories sold at the old price of N145 per litre to private marketers, private filling stations would continue to sell at N145 a litre.