Dealers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria said they had commenced moves that would ensure the direct purchase of petrol from the $20bn plant instead of going through NNPC.
NNPC is currently the sole off-taker of PMS from Lekki-based refinery. Other marketers go through the national oil company to access the product from the mega refinery.
This came as the Nigerian Economic Summit Group urged the Federal Government to avoid long-term monopoly in the downstream oil sector, but should support the Dangote refinery for growth.
IPMAN officials described NNPC as a fellow competitor, stating that efforts were ongoing to meet with the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, or some management members of the industry.
While saying no particular date has been fixed for the meeting, IPMAN leaders emphasised that buying directly from the refinery is right instead of buying from another marketer.
The Secretary of the group, Terlumun James, told our correspondent on Wednesday that IPMAN as an association of businessmen would not love to broadcast its business discussion, saying, however, that when a final business decision is taken, everyone would be carried along.
“If IPMAN is trying to meet with Dangote, we may not tell the press, we can call the press the moment we get something from Dangote reasonably. We are very serious businessmen; we are not politicians. Give us some little time, let us tidy up the business we are doing,” James replied when our correspondent sought to know IPMAN’s level of engagement with Dangote to get PMS.
However, when he was told that Nigerians would be interested in IPMAN because it has the highest number of filling stations in the country, the secretary admitted, saying the association is mindful of this.
“We are mindful of that because, for the past years, we’ve been in crisis, and that has affected our business. So, we are just coming up and we decided to move forward, and we are planning,” he said.
James spoke further on doing business with the state-owned petroleum company, saying, “NNPC is a registered company now, they are into the business with us. As far as IPMAN is concerned, NNPC is a competitor. IPMAN is being focused. Thank God you know we are planning to have a meeting with Dangote, it’s part of those things.”
Asked if the association wants to buy fuel directly from the Dangote refinery instead of waiting for the NNPC, he retorted, “NNPC is a marketer, they have a way they do their things and IPMAN has its way. We are very focused and organised now and we are trying to see how we can make products available to members of the public. The leadership of IPMAN is trying to ensure that our members have products because if they have, the masses will have peace of mind as they will have products to buy.”
The IPMAN leader spoke further, “They (Dangote officials) should deal with us, we are proudly in the market, we have the stations, and nobody has the number of stations that we command. If somebody has something, can’t you deal directly with the person? You deal with the person that has this thing. Some people who said they are selling, where are their stations? IPMAN owns the majority of the filling stations.”
Similarly, the spokesman of IPMAN, Ukadike Chinedu, hinted that as marketers, it is important for IPMAN to meet with Dangote as the source of PMS in Nigeria.
“It is right that we meet with Dangote to discuss the interest and welfare of our marketers,” Chinedu said.
When asked to disclose when the meeting is likely to be held, he said, “We don’t know yet. The issue is that as marketers, we should also meet with the seller to know whether he can also sell to us since we are a willing buyer.”
On why the association is no longer interested in going through the NNPC, Chinedu remarked, “This is deregulation, which is an open market. So, there should be a willing-buyer, willing-seller relationship; that is what we are propagating. What is the essence of cutting corners when we can just go and buy from him (Dangote)?”
Chinedu emphasised that the association would continue sourcing PMS from other sources including the NNPC if Dangote refuses to sell to IPMAN.
On their part, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, stated that the lifting of PMS by marketers directly from the Dangote refinery would create the required competition.
“Of course, we have been interfacing with officials of the Dangote refinery on the need to load petroleum products from the plant. The conversation has been ongoing and we hope to reach a fruitful end that will be win-win for all parties.
“Accessing the product from them will deepen the competition in the space, and healthy competition is good for the downstream sector. This is why we often call for transparency in the dealings between the government through NNPC and the management of the Dangote refinery,” Gillis-Harry stated.
Meanwhile, members of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria remain the only ones lifting PMS from the Dangote refinery. It was learned that over 50 million litres of petrol were lifted from the Dangote refinery in the past week by MEMAN members.
Sources informed our correspondent that about 57 million litres were lifted from the refinery which began the sale of petrol on September 15.
Speaking at a webinar on Tuesday, the Chairman of MEMAN, Huub Stokman, confirmed that major marketers were loading the product from the 650,000-capacity refinery.
However, Stokman did not disclose whether or not the marketers were buying directly from the Dangote or the product bought by the NNPC.
“I can tell you that we have started loading PMS from Dangote refinery. Our members have lifted millions of litres from Dangote,” Stokman stated.
On pricing, the MEMAN chairman declined comments, saying the association was not in a position to discuss how much a company will sell its product.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Dr Tayo Adeloju, called for competition in the downstream oil sector, but noted that the government must support the Dangote refinery.
He said, “We and Alhaji Aliko speak regularly. He is a member of the NESG, so on all the days he wasn’t sleeping at night, we too were not sleeping at night. But here is the truth, once one operator is playing in the market, it is safer to create more operators of the same type so that monopolistic tendencies are managed.
“In a perfect world, we would have said NNPC should compete with Aliko, but NNPC is not a good competitor. We think the refineries should move to a more efficient asset manager within an arrangement that works for the country. For now, whether we like Alhaji or not, that’s all we’ve got.
“And since this government went around the world saying that its inflation reduction strategy would be to provide as much support to the Dangote refinery to produce cheaper PMS, we think they should follow through with their commitment. They said it as the G20, Davos, they went around the world to say that don’t worry inflation will come down once the Dangote refinery is mainstreamed.
“So now that it’s been mainstreamed, I don’t think the government can back down on something that it went around to say was part of the policy of the government. That is what we feel about that. But ultimately, there should be more competition. Start with Dangote but quickly allow the entrance of more competent competitors and then we will see the price of PMS begin to find its true value as the case may be.”
In another development, the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, is planning to reinvest the profits from his $20bn refinery in other local businesses.
