Dealers dash hope of N87 petrol pump price

Dealers of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) may be gunning for an increase in the official pump price of the product, as they have complained that there is no profit to be made if they continue selling at the official rate of N87.

Dealers under the aegis of Petroleum Dealers and Owners Association in Ondo and Ekiti states who spoke to reporters in Akure, the Ondo state capital on Monday, declared that they could not sell the product at the government approved price of N87.00 per litre.

They also warned the Department of Petroleum Resources against sealing the stations of their members, who sell petrol above N87 per litre.

Chairman of the association, Mr. Jimi Adedapo, said the failure of the dealers to sell at approved pump price was as a result of the non-availability of the products at the depots of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

According to him, members of the association had been sourcing petroleum products through other means at a high cost, adding that the true cost per litre of petrol would be determined from the source.

Adedapo explained that the true cost per litre of fuel from Lagos ranged between N104 and N108, while the landing cost from Ogara/Warri in Delta State was between N105 and N108.00 per litre, exclusive of operating expenses such as diesel to run the station, staff salaries and cost of office and pump maintenance.

Read also: Marketers look to Ghana, Togo for fuel

“From this analysis, you will agree with us that it will be impossible for us to sell at the government approved price of N87.00 per litre”, he said.

As a result of the sealing of the stations of members of the association by the officials of the DPR in Akure, the chairman vowed that members would not open their stations to sell until the DPR left them to sell at profitable prices, lamenting that the regulatory authorities did not consider their plight before embarking on sealing their stations.

“Rather than running our stations at a loss, since most of us are on loan from financial institutions, we have resolved not to procure the product until it is readily available at the NNPC depots”, he said.

Adedapo therefore called on the Federal Government to deregulate the downstream oil sector to check alleged fraudulent activities in the sector, saying the government should focus on the deregulation to enable his members sell at the appropriate price rather than forcing them to sell the product at an unrealistic price.

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