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MOMAN, DAPMAN express mixed feelings over new pump price

By Femi Adekoya
22 March 2020   |   3:07 am
The implementation of the new pump price may be slow, as new pricing templates are expected every month, under the new price modulation strategy deployed by the Federal Government.

The implementation of the new pump price may be slow, as new pricing templates are expected every month, under the new price modulation strategy deployed by the Federal Government.
  
While petrol marketers await the issuance of credit notes to hedge the cost they would incur by adjusting the pump price from N145 to N125 per litre, oil marketers under the aegis of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) have reached an agreement with the managements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to begin importation of fuel and to await credit notes from PPPRA before adjusting pump price for petrol to the new N125 per litre.
  
NNPC’s Spokesman, Dr. Kennie Obateru, yesterday, confirmed the importation agreement.

Chairman of MOMAN, Tunji Oyebanji, had said that his members cannot sell at the new price except when issues around margins, importation and steps on the sustainability of the downstream are discussed and straightened out.
  
After the meeting, the operators resolved that “the industry stakeholders have received communication on the changes to ex-coastal and ex-depot prices and subsequently engaged the Group Managing Director of NNPC with a resolution to await the decision of the PPPRA Board meeting holding on March 20, 2020, on the new PMS template for price modulation.
  
“The industry stakeholders declared support for the opportunity given to private sector players to resume importation of PMS.”

  
Besides, the hope of stemming inflation, especially in the transportation and logistics sector may remain a dream as operators refuse to adjust fares in line with the new templates, over uncertainty about the monthly pricing template.
    
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) appealed to the Federal Government to urgently issue credit notes to petroleum marketers who recently loaded petroleum products, noting that it would help to cushion the effect on petroleum marketers’ profit margins.
 

The Zonal Chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), South West, Dele Tajudeen, said the directive by the Federal Government has been received with mixed feelings as it comes with both positive and negative impacts on the economy.
   
“The reduction will further alleviate the masses’ problem especially at a time when the nation is experiencing the Covid 19 outbreak that is affecting every facet of life even the developed countries.
 
“The virus has paralysed the global economy and it has affected our main source of income generation as a nation which has dropped to $24 per barrel.  The reduction will enable people to buy more with little money and they can get more volumes. It is a welcome idea and we appreciate the move from the federal government. We want to assure the masses that as a body, we will abide by the directives of NNPC, but however, the pronouncement has affected us positively and negatively.”
 
“Positively in the sense that the capital used in buying the products has reduced by about N660,000, which eventually is going to translate into a reduction in what we spend in buying the products, but the negative aspect is that we were not formally informed about the directive, because at any given time, we have products in our underground tanks because we do not wait till products finish from our stations,” he added.
 
According to him, a whole lot of petroleum marketers loaded petroleum products yesterday and a few days ago, adding that it would be impossible to sell the products in a day as some petroleum products are still in transit as at the time the pronouncement was made.
 
“The question is what will happen to those products that were loaded yesterday that are yet to get to their destinations? The communication from NNPC is unlike other federal government agencies that give you a time lag for you to get prepared. This will translate to a great loss to be suffered by our members, because a truck load of 33,000 litres, the implication will be that we will be losing N660, 000 and if it is 45,000 litres, we will be losing N900, 000 on a truck. These are the trucks loaded yesterday and some days ago not even talking about the ones in our underground tanks,” he said.
 

Tajudeen added: “The implication is that the product they have right now, they will be selling N20 below the amount they purchased and this translates to more than a billion-naira loss across board. Our appeal to NNPC and to the federal government is that people who loaded yesterday and some days ago, should be considered by giving them credit notes because, at this point in time, we need to be encouraged because we cut across every nook and cranny than competitors who just remain the city. Our appeal to NNPC is to consider those who just recently loaded because there is no how the products would have gotten to their station and in the nearest future, we are also appealing to the NNPC to always communicate with us early before coming out with new policies. If we were given five days, we would have reduced our stocks. It is a mixed feeling because we are happy the price is reduced and at the same time, we are battling with a whole lot of losses to our members.”
 
He, however, expressed the association’s commitment to work with the federal government to see that filling stations revert to the new price of PMS across the country.
 
“People that loaded from either NNPC depot or private depots should be given consideration this is our appeal. As far as we concerned, we do not encourage our members to disobey constituted authority. They should revert to N125. We will help the government to ensure that people comply with the directives while appealing to the government to look into cases of people who loaded recently,” he assured.

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