As Dangote Refinery is set to begin operations in May 2024, oil marketers have intensified efforts towards meeting with the management of the company to discuss final decisions on pricing and delivery of petrol to filling stations nationwide.
Dangote Refinery, which can refine 650,000 barrels per day, bpd of crude oil, intends to commence production and distribution of the product, the bulk of which is currently imported from outside Nigeria in May.
Dangote refinery officials, oil marketers, transporters, insurers and stakeholders have been meeting and exchanging notes on the pricing, distribution and margins according to the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria.
Depot owners buy petroleum from NNPC Limited at N556 per litre and sell to independents at N640 per litre but the marketers have proposed N550 per litre to management of Dangote Refinery
The President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Alhaji Abubakar Migandi Garima, on Sunday said:
"We have been discussing with Dangote Refinery. The discussion, centering on pricing, margins and other issues, is still ongoing.
"We have proposed that the lifting price should be N550 per litre in Lagos. The price of the product will differ from one part of Nigeria to another because of distance and cost of delivering petrol to different locations.
"We are currently waiting on Dangote Refinery to conclude and communicate the price per litre, so we can plan to lift the product when it comes on stream.
''We expect that the price of the locally refined petrol would be cheaper than imported petrol, due mainly to local availability of the bulk of its crude oil and removal of transportation cost."
Also, Executive Director, Emmanuel Egbogah Foundation for Petroleum and Energy Industry Economics and Policy Advocacy, Professor Wumi Iledare, said:
"The price of petroleum is majorly correlated with the acquisition cost of crude oil. The cost of running the refinery and opportunity cost of capital contribute marginally. Distribution and retailing costs are important but the crude cost matter the most.
''Thus, low price of petrol in Nigeria when Dangote Refinery operates at full capacity, is a possibility indeed, ceteris paribus."
Comments