Taiwo Popoola
Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria has kicked against a move by petroleum marketers to import Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) despite the availability of Dangote Refinery Petrol.
Publicity Secretary of CORAN, Eche Idoko, made this known in a statement condemning the move.
His comments come as a report emerged that 141 million liters of PMS are being conveyed to Nigeria by oil vessels following the full deregulation of the downstream oil sector by the Federal Government.
Recall that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Monday announced a fresh Price list for its retail outlets nationwide upon the lifting of Dangote Petrol.
According to the NNPCL, the price adjustments will see petrol sold between N950 to N1,019.22 per liter depending on the location.
This comes after NNPCL trucks successfully lifted Petrol from Dangote Refinery on Sunday.
The development had created a price controversy between Dangote Refinery and NNPC. NNNPC had Insisted that it bought Dangote Petrol at a per liter pump price of N898, but the 650,000 barrels per day Lagos-based refinery had disagreed with the state-owned firm.
However, in the latest move, petrol marketers, who seemed unsatisfied with the price regime of Dangote Refinery, had to consider the importation of petrol.
Reacting to the development, CORAN alleged that some imported petrol was substandard and was blended in Malta or Togo.
“So I would assure you this regime will pay them way better than the regime of importing petroleum products, where they sell to us, substandard products blended in Malta or Togo and imported into our country,” Idoko stated.
He called for backward integration, saying some were afraid that Dangote would become a monopoly.
“The fear marketers are having is that Dangote will become a monopoly, but that has been taken care of by Dangote subscribing to our association.
“With the Petroleum Industry Act in place and all the agencies in play, there is no way that Dangote can become a monopoly”, he said.
Earlier, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority had declared that imported petrol would be subjected to three tests before being allowed to be sold across the country.
NMDPRA spokesperson, George Ene-Ita, disclosed this amid petrol import concerns.
He stressed that marketers with import licenses were free to import PMS but noted that the products must be subjected to three major tests by the agency.
