Di Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, wey dem dey call PETROAN, don call on Federal Government to make dem restore full commercial operations for Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries. Dem warn say Nigeria energy security no suppose depend on one single refinery.
For statement wey dem release on Wednesday, PETROAN President, Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, talk say di association support di deregulation of downstream petroleum sector, but dem believe say government-owned refineries must resume operations to promote competition and safeguard di economy.
According to am, “markets built around a single dominant supplier are markets built on borrowed stability.” E stress say di call to restart di refineries no be emergency measure alone, but a structural necessity.
PETROAN say di recent decision by Dangote Petroleum Refinery to price petroleum products for United States dollars don highlight di risks wey dey associated with relying heavily on one single major supplier. Di association note say “di recent move by Dangote Petroleum Refinery to price its products for United States dollars was, on its face, a commercial choice within a company’s rights,” but e add say “e don expose, with unusual clarity, wetin happen when a domestic market’s price mechanism become dependent on a single actor’s exchange-rate calculus.”
Dem warn say marketers wey dey earn revenue for naira fit face increased pressure sourcing foreign exchange to buy fuel, wey go make pump prices more susceptible to exchange-rate volatility. According to PETROAN, di revival of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries go provide a price-check mechanism, promote genuine competition, reduce pressure on foreign exchange, strengthen energy security and boost investor confidence for di downstream petroleum sector.
Di association also urge Federal Government to ensure adequate crude oil supply to all domestic refiners and sustain policies wey go encourage investment for both modular and conventional refineries across di country. PETROAN maintain say “Nigeria’s energy security cannot rest on the fortunes, or the currency preferences, of a single refinery, no matter how large,” insisting say “a resilient petroleum sector needs public and private capacity operating side by side, competing on the same terms, for di same market.”
Meanwhile, BusinessDay report say private depot owners across Nigeria don begin quote petrol for roughly N1,200 a litre, after Dangote Petroleum Refinery suspend gantry loading. Findings show depots for Lagos, Warri, Port Harcourt and Calabar don move Premium Motor Spirit prices to between N1,200 and N1,230 a litre on Thursday.
One Lagos-based depot operator wey no want name because e no get authorization to talk, say “when di gantry go quiet, everybody down di chain dey start marking up. Nobody want to dey caught selling old stock at old prices when di replacement cost reset higher.” Industry sources say di refinery dey reassess elements of its pricing and transaction framework, including fallout from its move last week to invoice buyers for dollars instead of naira.
Further findings show Aiteo and NIPCO for Lagos dey sell PMS at N1,200 a litre, while M. Shafa don go to N1,230. For Port Harcourt, Liquid Bulk and Sigmund both dey quote N1,230, matched by Mainland Depot for Calabar. Chukwudi Akadike, national publicity secretary of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, say “whatever affects di refinery’s cost of operations go eventually affect product pricing.” E caution say dollar-based sales make further pump-price increases hard to avoid.
IPMAN don press President Bola Tinubu’s government to preserve di naira-for-crude arrangement wey don underpin Dangote’s local pricing since October 2024. But not every voice for di industry see di shift as destabilising. Muda Yusuf, chief executive of Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, argue say a refinery wey dey buy most of its feedstock for dollars dey take a rational step by aligning its revenue currency with its cost base, rather than signalling distress.
Yusuf advise say di policy response for this instance should focus on addressing di underlying structural constraints instead of di pricing decision itself. E add say “di enduring solution lies for increasing domestic crude availability, deepening foreign exchange stability and reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported feedstock. Only then can di full economic benefits of domestic refining be realised.”
But Billy Gillis-Harry, president of PETROAN, don warn say di policy risk nudging di domestic fuel trade toward informal dollarisation, with marketers passing on foreign-exchange costs at di pump. Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria publicity secretary Iche Idoko frame di episode as less about currency preference than about whether local refiners dey receive enough crude under di government’s naira-for-crude framework to avoid dollar exposure for di first place. E call on di petroleum ministry to convene refiners, crude producers and regulators to address allocation shortfalls wey e say dey force refiners toward foreign-currency financing.
Dangote Refinery, a 650,000-barrel-a-day plant wey don become di dominant price-setter for Nigeria’s downstream market since starting operations less than two years ago, no don say when gantry loading go resume. Marketers say dem dey watch for any fresh notice from di company’s commercial operations unit, di same channel wey announce di dollar-pricing switch, as di clearest indication of where official prices – and, by extension, di rest of di market — dey headed next.
