Oil marketers in dilemma as NNPCL issues fresh mandate for payment of petroleum products

A new circular from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has specified the prices oil merchants will pay for petroleum goods.

The Federal Government had announced the withdrawal of fuel subsidies around two weeks prior to this new development.

In a circular sent on Sunday, NNPCL Retail instructed marketers to think about combining their existing orders—which still carry the old fuel price—in order to purchase a tanker carrying up to 45,000 litres of petrol.

Prior to the deregulation, the marketers had ordered one tanker of petrol for approximately N7.7 million.

Read Also: NNPCL says it’ll end fuel importation when Dangote Refinery kicks off

The new business circular, however, instructed marketers who had likely bought at the former price of N171/litre, to combine their purchases or get a refund.

“Following the full deregulation of PMS, NNPC Retail has made the following options available to help customers manage the impact of the additional cash flow requirement: Marketers now have the option of consolidating pre-paid self-owned tickets for fresh tickets in line with the revised price. Interested marketers can engage their respective NRL Depot Representative for guidance on how to initiate this option.

“Also, there is an option for cash refund. Marketers who are interested in initiating this option should send in official request addressed to the MD NNPC Retail. The request should include evidence of payment and order details (RRR number, Sales quotation number and Meter ticket number). Upon receipt of official request together with the above supporting documents, your refund request will be made processed,” the memo from NNPCL Retail read in part.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria’s Operations Controller, Mike Osatuyi, confirmed the memo.

However, he acknowledged that some marketers would find it challenging to raise the substantial sums needed to place an order for petroleum goods.

“Where do you want us to get such money from?” Osatuyi asked.

“The price difference is huge and most can’t afford it. So what we will start seeing is that instead of ordering for one truck, marketers can now go for maybe a quarter or half truck just like it’s being done for diesel.

“Since NNPC said we consume 66 million litres daily, we are sure that it would drop to as low as 30 million litres soon,” Osatuyi said.

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