By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd has raised the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, from N855 to N890 per litre at its retail outlets.
The fresh hike, which now places the price above the market average of N865 per litre, came as a rude shock to motorists and represents a jump of N35 per litre.
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According to findings, the adjustment was effected twice over the weekend, first on Friday when the price rose from N855 to N870 per litre and again on Sunday morning when the pumps were reset to N890 per litre.
Some of the motorists who spoke to Daily Sun in separate interviews expressed shock at the development, saying at a time the purchasing power of Nigerians was dwindling, NNPC had decided to add more to the hardship by increasing fuel prices.
A market survey conducted by Daily Sun revealed that most major marketers’ retail outlets were selling at N865 per litre as of Sunday morning.
As at the time of filing this report, there was no major reason linked to the hike in petrol price by NNPC outlets.
Daily Sun exclusively reported last week that fuel marketers under the aegis of the Petroleum Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) had warned Nigerians against unrealistic fuel prices which they said do not reflect current market realities.
National President of PETROAN, Mr. Billis Gillis Harry, in an interview with Daily Sun, warned further that the trend is a strong indication of growing bad market behaviour that should be checked by the relevant regulatory agencies.
The PETROAN President said various marketers, in a bid to remain in business, are dropping prices below the market average.
He argued that the market behaviour was a result of the consistent drop in petrol price by Dangote Refinery, which is already threatening the existence of other market operators in the downstream sector.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, in the last two months, has dropped petrol prices more than 10 times.
“Those prices you see that are around N815 or N820 per litre do not reflect market or economic realities. They cannot stand the test of time. The big player in the industry is to be blamed for this unhealthy rivalry/competition in the market. But let it be known that everyone is bleeding. The industry shouldn’t be a monopoly. Let it be known that if the big player is ready to lose money, others are equally ready as well,” he said.
According to a market survey on petroleumprice.ng, a portal that tracks petroleum products prices in real-time, Aiteo, Sahara, Menj, Rainoil, First Fortune, Parker, Zamson, TSL, and NIPCO put their prices at N819, N825, N815, N825, N839, and N825 per litre respectively.
On the other hand, the retail prices of some key Dangote partners, which included Ardova, MRS, Heyden, and others, had risen above market average, hitting N860 per litre.
If not urgently addressed, the PETROTAN boss said Nigerians and members of the consuming public would be the ultimate losers through all forms of anti-market behaviours.
Some of those behaviours include under-dispensing, off-spec products, and in some extreme cases, dumping of substandard/toxic fuel.
He advised that market prices should be subjected to tests by the Federal Competition Consumers Protection Council (FCCPC) and the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to check market abuse.
“As much as we want Dangote business to be successful, we also want to be successful. There should be a meeting point where everything we do should be able to bring succour to the Nigerian people.
No doubt, Dangote has the idea to make the industry work, but some of those ideas need deeper thinking for it to thrive,” he said.
PETROAN recently accused Dangote Petroleum Refinery of plans to exploit Nigerians and monopolise the downstream sector over its recent forward integration adoption.
It warned further that the plan could pose a significant job loss threat to Nigeria.
The association argued that Dangote Refinery, with a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day (bpd), should be competing with global refineries, not operating as a distributor in the downstream sector.
“This massive refinery, one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, is expected to satisfy domestic fuel demand and export surplus products.
It equally raised concerns about Dangote’s intention to dominate the downstream sector, citing plans that the company may leverage its market power to fix prices, limit competition, and exploit consumers, much like it has done in other sectors.
The marketers explained that Dangote’s tactics may include a pricing penetration strategy, where they reduce prices to capture market share, with the ultimate goal of forcing other filling station operators to quit the market.
This, it said, could lead to a massive shutdown of filling stations across Nigeria, resulting in widespread job losses.
It added that the introduction of 4,000 brand-new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered tankers by Dangote Refinery poses a significant threat to the livelihoods of thousands of truck drivers and owners.
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