Fuel marketers have resumed loading petrol and diesel from private depots after an almost one-week disruption triggered by recent price adjustments in the downstream petroleum sector.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, told The PUNCH on Tuesday that private depots had resumed selling petroleum products to marketers, dismissing fears of an imminent fuel scarcity.
Although some filling stations did not dispense petrol on Monday and Tuesday, Ukadike said marketers were only being cautious because of the prevailing volatility in fuel prices, particularly amid the ongoing Middle East crisis.
He explained that depot owners temporarily suspended loading operations to adjust prices and request top-up payments from marketers who had already paid for products before the latest price increase. Ukadike, however, noted that depot owners do not refund marketers when prices fall below the amount previously paid for products.
Speaking on the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s newly introduced dollar-for-fuel policy, Ukadike said he could not confirm whether marketers had started paying in dollars for products loaded through the refinery’s gantry in Lekki, Lagos.
“Marketers have started loading in other depots. You know, once there is a price change, they will stop and take their stock, then reset their prices around the rest of them. Then also look at the tickets they have sold before and see how they will do top-up. What we call top-up is the differential of the former price, so they can buy at the current price. These are the exercises that are ongoing. And once they are ongoing, you cannot load,” he said.
He added, “I know that Dangote has fixed its price in dollars, but no marketer has ever informed me that they have paid in dollars, especially those loading from the gantry. But for offshore loading or coastal loading, I can assure you that it will be paid in dollars. But for gantry loading, I don’t know. By tomorrow, I will confirm.”
