There is a little change in the price of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, crashed from N640 per litre to N630 per litre last week consequent upon supply of 1% of the product by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to independent marketers.
It was noticed that the market started responding positively as soon as the private depots got a wind of NNPCL assurance to supply petrol directly to the independent marketers.
Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), National President, broke the news at the weekend.
Abubakar recalled that the NNPCL Executive Vice President, Downstream, Dapo Segun, guaranteed the marketers that he would be giving them direct product under the Product Finance Initiative Allocation (PFIA).
According to Abubakar, the independent marketers are entitled to 50% of the product allocation but the only 1% they have received from NNPCL had changed the narrative.
He said: “The price has started reducing since NNPCL is giving independent marketers their direct allocation”.
“NNPCL said they will give us direct product instead of taking it to private depot to sell it to us at a higher rate. It has started changing the price now even though they just gave us a small quantity”.
“We are supposed to have 50 per cent of the distribution. Let’s say they have given us one per cent. Even that one per cent has started changing the situation of the market.’’
“Depot price has started reducing. It was previously N640 per litre. But when the rumour came, we will start getting our direct allocation, they reduced it to N630 per litre”.
“NNPCL sells at N570 per litre. The implication is that the independent marketers would not have to rely on private depots that do not have as many retail outlets as them for product supply”.
