Marketers and retailers of petroleum products will begin lifting Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) from the Port Harcourt Refining Company this week, according to the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN).
Joseph Obele, the Publicity Secretary of PETROAN, confirmed this development in an interview. He noted that since the refinery started operations in November, it had been supplying fuel only to retail outlets owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Obele explained that while marketers still buy fuel from NNPCL, the products are currently imported. He raised concerns about the price difference in fuel sold in Port Harcourt compared to Lagos.
Obele requested that the refinery sell petrol at ₦899 per litre in Port Harcourt, similar to the price in Lagos, instead of the current ₦970.
“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,” Obele stated.
He added that Port Harcourt marketers have not yet started buying directly from the refinery but will do so this week. “The trucks loading out are for the NNPC retail outlets only.”
Obele reiterated the call for equal pricing, saying, “We plead with the NNPC to sell to us at the same rate they are selling fuel to Lagos marketers. The difference is too much. It is N899 per litre in Lagos but N970 in Port Harcourt. It is far higher than that of Lagos.”
He also confirmed that the NNPCL is still importing fuel for Lagos. “The stocks in Lagos are imported stocks,” Obele said.
The NNPC had announced in November that the Port Harcourt refinery, with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, had resumed operations after several delays. The new refinery, with a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day, is still undergoing rehabilitation.
NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye confirmed that the refinery is currently producing naphtha, which is blended to produce petrol.
