*The new fuel supply arrangement between the NNPC Limited and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria is expected to boost fuel supply, and possibly end the persistent product scarcity and attendant queues of vehicles at filling stations across the West African country

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Stakeholders are intensifying efforts at improving the fuel supply situation, as special joint arrangement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and 30,000-member independent petroleum marketers will lead to mass supplies of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise referred to as petrol in Lagos, Calabar, Port Harcourt and Ogara, effective January next year, findings have revealed.

The move is part of the arrangement by the Federal Government and stakeholders in the fuel supply chain to find a permanent solution to the lingering fuel scarcity in the country, report said.

Malam Mele Kyari, Group CEO of NNPC Limited 

It was learnt the officials confirmed this development Sunday, December 2022, that the NNPC Limited and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) had agreed and selected Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Ogara as four major fuel supply points.

Mike Osatuyi, National Controller Operations, IPMAN, who disclosed the development to The Punch Sunday, December 25, 2022, confirmed that NNPC would begin to supply fuel to depots in the four major cities for independent marketers effective January next year.

From these locations, the product would be transported to other parts of the country by IPMAN members of the independent.

The decision was reached after a series of meeting between NNPC Limited and IPMAN, report said.

Boosting fuel supply across Nigeria

It was learnt the new fuel supply arrangement in the country is expected to boost fuel supply across the country and probably put an end to the persistent fuel queues in Nigeria.

The fuel supply gap across the country has led to queues in filling stations with motorists complaining of their inability to access the product, especially at the regulated pump price of N180/litre.

The NNPC Limited currently supplies products to major oil marketers who sell the product at the regulated price of N180/litre to the public.

However, IPMAN members have said that they were unable to get fuel at the regulated depot price of N148/litre.

Most filling stations are getting the products from depots at over N200/litre, according to report.

ConsumerConnect reports  the IPMAN members had complained of being previously sidelined by the NNPCL in favour of members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN).

The independent oil marketers also issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government over price disparities in products being sold to its members and those of MOMAN.

High energy prices as fuel scarcity persists

It was also observed that stations belonging to NNPCL sell petrol for N179/litre, members of MOMAN sell products at N180 per litre, whereas members of IPMAN sell for about N250-N270 per litre, depending on the location of their retail outlets across the country.

Defending reasons behind higher ex-depot prices, Olufemi Adewole, Executive Secretary for Depot Association of Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, was quoted to have explained that the price for renting a vessel had jumped from between $65,000 and $75,000 per day as of a few months ago to $80,000/day.

Consumers to buy petrol at N180/litre from January: IPMAN

The development has reportedly led to a scarcity situation, in which the petroleum products are being sold between N250/litre and N270/litre in most filling stations in Nigeria.

Report also indicates the NNPC Limited agreed to sell the product directly to independent marketers at the regulated price of N148/litre.

Nonetheless, officials close to the development confirmed Sunday that fuel supply to IPMAN members would begin in four major cities, namely Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Ogara in January 2023.

Osatuyi further revealed that IPMAN members nationwide would start selling petrol at the government-regulated price of N180/litre effective January, if the arrangement works.

The IPMAN operations controller noted the Association had started shortlisting the names of members who would be receiving bulk supplies from the NNPC Limited for onward supply to other members in the country.

“By January, we will start getting the products. We are currently gathering names for submission, we are collating our names, and it will have to go through some other process before it will eventually be approved. “We have to also arrange for some vessels to drop fuel at some depots in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Ogara and Lagos,” Osatuyi stated.

The IPMAN National Controller also confirmed that Hubb Stockman, new Managing Director of NNPCL Retail, led the agreement process in the fresh arrangement for massive product supply effective January 2023.

He, however, said that the oil company increased supply in recent times which he said had reduced fuel queues in some cities.

Osatuyi assured Nigerian consumers that “the impact of the queue at filling stations is not as high as it was because NNPCL had increased supply.

“Again, there are long queues at MOMAN stations because they buy at a government-regulated price of N148/litre.

“But once NNPCL starts giving independent marketers products steadily, price will definitely crash to N180/litre at the pump.”

According to IPMAN, marketers are holding a series of meetings with Stockman on how to achieve adequate supplies from January.

The signing of the N148/litre deal between NNPCL and independent oil marketers would hold by January, Osatuyi noted.

He added: “With the series of meetings we have been having with him, latest by January; we will get products directly from NNPCL and we won’t have to go through the depots.

“By that, prices of products will go down. But what we are asking for again, is consistency in product delivery to us, and let it not be a one-off thing.”