THE Federal Government (FG) says the regulated pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) remains N165 per litre as mandated in the petroleum product pricing template.
Considering that there are currently over 2 billion litres of PMS in various depots, the government further cautioned Nigerians against impulsively purchasing PMS, commonly known as gasoline.
Following a Tuesday visit to jetties at Apapa, Lagos, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd., and the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company informed the public of this.
NIPCO Depot and TotalEnergies Depot were the depots that the top agency officials visited. The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) urged its members to raise the price of PMS at the pump to at least N180 per litre on Monday.
The move, according to the marketers, was necessary as a result of some private depots from which they were purchasing PMS raising the ex-depot price of the product.
Although he insisted that gasoline was a regulated product, Mr. Ugbugo Ukoha, Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retail Infrastructure (NMDPRA), asked merchants to adhere to the pricing template.
Ukoha stated that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine had increased the price of automotive gas oil (diesel), a crucial component required to transfer petroleum products from depots to retail outlets.
He said: “So, when we observed that this poses a big challenge in the movement of other products, we made the representation to the Minister of State for Petroleum and Mr President graciously approved that the freight rate for trucks be increased.
“There’s a N10 addition, which we will apply to the different routes to enable trucks to move to docks easily with less burden.
“With these kinds of efforts from the government, we can only continue to appeal to operators within this industry to play by the rules.
According to Ukoha, the stakeholders’ main priorities over the coming days would be to close supply gaps and find a quick solution to the present petrol shortage.
Additionally, Adetunji Adeyemi, Group Executive Director, Downstream, NNPC Ltd., stated that the tour to the depots was made in order to learn firsthand about the difficulties causing the current shortage.
Adeyemi stated that NNPC has continued to give Nigerians access to petroleum products, notably PMS, despite obstacles in the supply chain that existed on a worldwide scale.
“PMS is a regulated product and the prices are fixed. The ex-depot price is known. The pump price remains N165 and the authority is ever ready to enforce those rules.
“So, we will continue to urge Nigerians to keep within these operating rules.”
“Today we have about 2 billion litres of PMS in-country, which is about 34 days sufficiency. So, there is sufficient petrol in the country.
“We are working with the entire stakeholders and players in the downstream sector to ensure that this product gets to the distribution channels and also the stations.
“We want Nigerians to continue to enjoy free flow of petroleum products,” he said.
The company has been providing transporters and marketers with diesel as a palliative to facilitate the seamless distribution of PMS and lessen Nigerians’ pain, according to Isiyaku Abdullahi, managing director of PPMC.
Abdullahi further stated that three vessels carrying about 60 metric tons of PMS were currently unloading at the Apapa jetty. In order to restore normalcy, the PMS would then be transported to Lagos and other regions of the nation.
The assurance of product availability at their depots came from Suresh Kumar, Managing Director of NIPCO, and Ernest Umunna, Site Manager of TotalEnergies.
In order to guarantee that the shortage issue in Lagos was handled within the ensuing few days, they additionally pledged to conduct 24-hour trucking operations.
