Marketers deregulate price of petrol, sells N180/litre in Lagos

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has deregulated the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise popularly called petrol.

The decision to break away from the government-regulated price of N165 per litre was reached on Monday, June 20, at the association’s office in Ejigbo, Lagos State.

IPMAN, according to the Secretary, Lagos State Division, Akeem Balogun, said there was no way its members can sell any price less than N180/litre, due to the cost of lifting the product from the depot and hauling same to their various stations.

In a private message he sent to members after the meeting, Balogun said: “Distinguish marketers, the Chairman and executives in conjunction with some senior members of our unit, organised a press conference today 20th June 2022, at IPMAN HOUSE, Ejigbo, Lagos, where we explained our predicament with the current price of PMS at private depot.

“We explained that with the current price, there is no way we can sell less than N180 per litre.

“On this note, members are hereby advised to sell at a sustainable price within their environment. Just make sure that the price is on your pump.

“Kindly contact the Secretariat should you have any authority challenging your operations.”

Subsequently in an interview with Channels Television, the Lagos Zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Akin Akinrinade, gave more insight into the price increase, preceded by shutdown of most filling stations in Lagos at the weekend and leading to scarcity of the product.

Akinrinade said the petroleum marketers were not on strike as feared but have found it difficult to operate considering the dependence on diesel whose price has skyrocketed.

“Members of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have shut down their stations, not because we are striking; we are not on strike.

READ: Diesel price may hit N1,500/litre in next two weeks – Marketers

“Rather, the business environment has been very hostile to us such that we can no longer do business under this condition. For you to load a litre of petrol, you pay N162 per litre,” he said.

Akinrinade said the price deregulation had nothing to do with the removal of subsidy or deregulation of the petroleum sector.

He listed the high cost of buying petrol at the depots, the high cost of diesel for running their station, and the increased cost of freight as the major factors responsible.

Akinrinade stressed that it was no longer feasible to sell the product at the recommended price of N165 to a litre, adding that the landing cost of petrol was between N175 to N178 Naira to a litre.

“You now have to add the cost of transportation which is between N6 to N8, depending on the distance within Lagos. If it is outside Lagos, it is much more than that.

“So, if you add N8 to N162, you already have N170 and the government which is the regulator wants us to sell at N165; we have not even added the charges at the depot and the running cost at our stations.

“You know what diesel sells now, and you know how epileptic power supply is; we run on generator, using diesel at N800 per litre. There is no station in Lagos that uses less than 50 litres (of diesel) per day.

“So, our members can no longer sell (petrol) at N165 per litre; in fact, there is no reasonable person in this business that can sell below N180 per litre, so it is not as if we are on strike,” he concluded.