The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said its members need more Premium Motor Spirit supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), citing the scarcity of products sweeping across the country.
The association currently has over 3000 members controlling the largest share of filling stations nationwide.
Chairman Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Ore Depot, Shina Amoo, who was a guest on Channels TV Morning Brief yesterday, said the NNPCL, currently the sole importer of petroleum products, has failed to supply its members with adequate products capable of catering to their activities in the last three years.
He said, “There is no supply anywhere. For now, the only supply available is not well distributed. We have been making noise about the distribution pattern for a long time. We had a type of arrangement before now, where we used to enjoy 70/30 supply based on our strength.
“If you go to areas like villages and the urban regions, you will see many independent marketers where you would not find any significant or semi-major marketers.
“But now we can’t even talk of IPMAN regarding supply. We are not even being considered when it comes to supply. If you see 50 petrol stations and take a random sample, you will discover that only three to eight sell products.
“And these products we are selling, we are getting them at premium prices. Virtually all the depots we buy from sell to us at prices they want to sell from the neighbourhood of between N750 to N850.
“All the private depots have been selling to us at the prices they want for years now instead of getting products at N560 from NNPC.
“None of us have been able to get products from NNPC for over two or three years. Instead of getting from NNPC directly, when you pay your draft today, you will pick your product between three to five months later. So, time would have eroded the profit by the time you get your product.
“So, we now prefer to line up at private depots. I don’t want to mention their names. They sell products to independent marketers at a premium of about N850, N800, or N870 per litre.
“Before now, when you make payment to the NNPC- like in the Ore depot, we make payment to NNPC, and we have to wait a week before loading. But today, when you make payments, there will be lengthy procedures and bureaucracy. Before you can access the products, it takes about four months. But now, we go to depots close to us in Delta State to source for products.
“After paying for the product at N800 per litre, you will pay for transportation of about N22 per litre to land at Akure. That is what we are facing right now.
“NNPC supplies the depots. I mentioned something earlier about the distribution pattern. The year NNPC abandoned the distribution pattern was when they stopped being sincere. They stopped supplying IPMAN and would rather supply DAPPMAN and MEMAN. And the volume they give us cannot handle IPMAN’s activities.”
He said the major problem is fuel subsidies and NNPCL being the sole importer.
After removing subsidies, Amoo discussed the rise in product prices at the depots, saying that if corruption were removed from the downstream system, product prices would be forced to drop.
