AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
Marketers and retailers of petroleum products will start lifting Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) from the Port Harcourt Refining Company this week.
The Publicity Secretary of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Joseph Obele, disclosed this in an exclusive interview.
According to Obele, since the refinery commenced operations in November, it has been supplying fuel to retail outlets owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited only.
Though marketers still load fuel from the NNPCL, Obele clarified that the products marketers currently buy from the state-owned oil company were imported.
He expressed concerns that the NNPCL was selling PMS to retailers in Port Harcourt at prices higher than that of Lagos State, pleading that the refinery should sell at N899 per litre instead of N970.
He said, “NNPC is still telling us to buy at a rate different from the rate they are selling to Lagos at the moment because of logistics. So, Port Harcourt retail outlet owners are not really comfortable with that. Hence, the Port Harcourt refinery will start servicing us this week.
“We are also requesting that the same rate NNPC is selling to our members at Lagos should be the rate they will be selling to us over here in Port Harcourt too. We are not really comfortable with that disparity.”
When asked whether or not marketers in Port Harcourt and environs have started buying directly from the NNPC refinery, he said no, but he expressed assurances that it will commence this week.
