. ‘They didn’t wait for their stock to finish,’ how other marketers changed pump prices to as high as N1,000 per litre with immediate effect amidst economic hardship
. ‘Hours after Platforms Africa’s exclusive report on ex-depot price hike,’ details of how “we got to where we are.”
Amid a lingering fuel scarcity and crisis, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has adjusted the fuel price from N650 to between N855 and N890 per litre, Platforms Africa reports.
Without waiting for their stock to finish as they claimed during price reduction, other marketers too and outlets have also adjusted the pump prices with over 30 percent increments.
This came 24 hours after an exclusive news by Platforms Africa revealed a hike in the ex-depot price of the product to N754 per litre.
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The increments were discovered on Tuesday at dispensing machines of government-backed NNPCL stations in Lagos and Abuja.
Meanwhile, other private owned stations adjusted their price to N897 per litre.
As gathered, the price has been reviewed upward to reflect the global price and reduce the debt burden on NNPC.
This came barely two days after NNPC management disclosed that the firm is owing suppliers of the products $6 billion.
The NNPC spokesperson, Femi Soneye, has denied any adjustments in prices, stressing that the old price still remain.
Earlier the Federal Government had denied reports that it directed NNPC to peg fuel prices at N1,000.
“The federal government is compelled to address the outright falsehoods currently being circulated on social media, which claim that the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to inflate petroleum prices above the approved pump price,” said the statement by Nnemaka Okafor, special adviser, media and communication, to the Minister for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri.
The Platforms Africa exclusive
On Monday, Platforms Africa had in an exclusive report, published that the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol hit N754 per litre.
The data from depots in Nigeria on Monday showed that as at 1st of September, the price at which the product landed at the depots was also N1,022 per litre.
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The ex-depot price is the cost the depots that received the product from NNPCL are expected to sell after adding their margins.
A source at one of the depots in Apapa confirmed the data in a telephone chat with Platforms Africa.
“With the admittance of $6 billion debts by NNPCL, more facts would begin to come out. One of this is the hitherto kept-secret landing cost of petrol, which is now far higher than the ex-depot price,” he said.
“As of yesterday, the ex-depot of PMS is N754 per litre while the landing cost is around N1,022 per litre,” he added.
The product is officially sold by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other majors at and average pump price of N630/litre as at the same date (26/8/2024).
This, according to statistics compiled by Platforms Africa, msde the under-recovery by the NNPCL to be multi-staged.
First is the differential between the landing cost and the ex-depot price. Second is the under-recovery between the e -depot price and the pump price at NNPCL stations.
The $6bn Debts
As queues extend beyond filling stations across the country, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has disclosed that the petrol supply hiccups being experienced was due to accrue debt owing fuel importers over several months.
This came as former vice president Atiku Abubakar described the company as the ATM of the Tinubu-led federal government, insisting the company should be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange without further delay.
NNPC noted that the financial strain has placed considerable pressure on the company’s efforts to ensure adequate supply of the products in the country.
As gathered, the debt which has posed a major threat on sustainability of fuel supply was due to the global suppliers of petrol unwillingness to supplying the product on credit to the firm for distribution to end users across the nation.
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the firm, Olufemi Soneye, confirmed the development through a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday.
Atiku’s Reaction
Meanwhile, the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has demanded the immediate listing of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) on the stock exchange in line with the Petroleum Industry Act.
Platforms Africa reports that Atiku said this throigh a statement by his aide, Paul Ibe, in reaction to the decision of the NNPCL to hand over the Warri and Kaduna refineries to private operators who are expected to manage and operate them.
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“The NNPCL is supposed to have been listed on the stock exchange in line with the Petroleum Industry Act. This would make the company more profitable and enhance transparency and corporate governance.
“Currently, the NNPCL claims to be private, but this is only a ruse to fool the feeble-minded because it remains the ATM of the Federal Government. Anything short of listing the NNPCL on the stock exchange is nothing but a cosmetic development,” he added.
He further stated that the NNPC Limited continues to provide a cover of political protection to the Tinubu government’s policy inconsistency on the payment of subsidy, raising questions about the independence that the PIA requires of the NNPC Limited as a private business concern.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate said previous arrangements and concessions had not worked because of a lack of transparency in the contract award process as well as the failure of the government to attract investors.
The former Vice President said that for such a deal to succeed at all, the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) and a credible technical partner like Standard and Poor’s must be part of the process.
Atiku added, “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo revealed recently that even Shell, one of the world’s wealthiest oil companies, rejected the offer to operate Nigeria’s refineries. This is because the NNPCL has, for years, been a cesspool of endemic corruption.
“This is why over $20bn that has been spent on the refineries in the last 20 years has led to nowhere. It is also curious that a government that is still paying petrol subsidy is trying to make its refineries profitable. Which businessman will invest in a refinery that has been programmed to operate at a loss?”
Atiku questioned the feasibility of the NNPC’s latest plan even as he pointed out that such arrangements in the past had not been profitable.
He added, “The manage and operate approach has not always worked. The Manitoba Hydro International, which was handed the Transmission Company of Nigeria led to nowhere. Similarly, Global Steel Limited, which was handed the Ajaokuta Steel Company, was not able to make the facility profitable.
“The contract was questionably revoked by the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration, and Nigeria ended up paying Global Steel a compensation of nearly $500m while Ajaokuta remains comatose 17 years later.”
The Waziri Adamawa advised the NNPCL not to make the contract process opaque like it did with OVH last year, which was not only dubious but has still failed to boost the NNPCL’s petrol sufficiency as evidenced by the months long fuel scarcity.
“In 2022, Nueoil, an unknown and newly registered company, acquired OVH and Oando filling stations. Barely four months later, NNPCL Retail bought Nueoil and took control of all its assets, including the Oando filling stations.
“Barely eight months later, OVH turned around to take over NNPCL Retail. This convoluted transaction was done in order to hide the corruption involved. If this is the approach that the NNPCL wants to use in handing over its refineries to private hands, then Nigerians should not expect any positive development whatsoever.”
Platforms Africa
