Petrol Marketers to Begin Lifting Fuel from Port Harcourt Refinery This Week
Barring any last-minute changes, marketers and retailers of petroleum products in Port Harcourt are expected to start lifting Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Port Harcourt Refining Company this week.
Joseph Obele, Publicity Secretary of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), revealed in an exclusive interview that since the refinery resumed operations in November, it has only been supplying fuel to retail outlets owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). However, the new arrangement will soon allow independent marketers in Port Harcourt to begin buying directly from the refinery.
Obele raised concerns about the current pricing disparity between Port Harcourt and Lagos. According to him, NNPCL is selling fuel to retailers in Port Harcourt at N970 per litre, while the same product is being sold to retailers in Lagos at N899 per litre. He attributed this difference to logistical costs and pleaded with NNPCL to align the pricing for Port Harcourt with Lagos.
“We are requesting that NNPC sell to us at the same rate they are selling to our members in Lagos. The difference is too much,” Obele stated. “The logistics explanation seems to be the reason, but since the refinery now has fuel available, it should be sold to us at the same rate.”
Marketers in Port Harcourt are currently purchasing fuel imported by NNPCL, while the local refinery, which resumed operations in November, has begun producing petrol by blending naphtha. Despite previous delays, the NNPCL also intends to complete rehabilitation of the larger 150,000 barrels per day refinery in the near future.
NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye confirmed that the refinery is currently producing naptha for petrol blending and that the supply from the refinery to retail outlets will begin soon.
