Marketers of petroleum products have stated that the loading of fuel has been put on hold at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery following the facility’s decision to sell fuel in dollars.

Many marketers told The PUNCH on Sunday that the facility was not even loading its trucks, sparking fear of possible fuel tightness across the country. But the refinery denied the claim, arguing that fuel loading was ongoing within the Lekki-based plant.

Petroleum marketers said they suspended large-scale fuel loading in the last few days as they await clarity on the new pricing template being adopted by the refinery. They also await the cost of newly imported petroleum products.

The development heightened uncertainty in the downstream petroleum sector, with marketers wary of buying large volumes of petrol at the prevailing prices only to see the cost of the product fall shortly after.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, in a telephone interview on Sunday, said marketers were being forced to adopt a cautious approach because of the uncertainty surrounding the next price of petrol.

“The issue is simple; marketers are not buying because they are trying to look at the market dynamics. Whatever we are using today is existing products in tank farms, which we are buying around N1,250 and N1,300,” Ukadike said.

He said the uncertainty had been worsened by the expected arrival of new crude supplies and imported petrol, whose pricing templates remained unclear.

“The problem we are now facing is that this new crude oil that they are bringing- what will be the template? Also, those who have brought in petroleum products and are given licences are also estimated to place their price at N1,350, which marketers are also wary of,” he stated.

Ukadike said marketers were therefore reluctant to load large volumes because they could not predict whether the price of petrol would rise or fall after they had purchased the product.

“So everyone is just sceptical about loading products because when you load, you don’t know the next price, if it is going to reduce or go higher. You are still expected by consumers to sell at the prevailing price,” he said.

According to him, the uncertainty has not completely halted the distribution of petrol, but has significantly reduced the volume being loaded by marketers.

He urged the Federal Government to intervene and resolve the dispute over the pricing template, warning that continued uncertainty could further disrupt the downstream market. “The Federal Government has to look inward and resolve this issue once and for all. This template issue should be resolved immediately,” Ukadike said.

In a report by NAN, marketers in the South-West confirmed that the uncertainty over petrol prices has forced many to halt fresh purchases, leading to the temporary closure of some filling stations.

The Zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Western Zone, Oyewole Akanni, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Ibadan. Akanni said the situation was triggered by the suspension of loading of Premium Motor Spirit at the Dangote refinery about four days ago.

He said the development had forced marketers to source products from private depots at significantly higher prices. According to him, the cheapest ex-depot price at private depots in Lagos currently ranges between N1,200 and N1,220 per litre, excluding transportation costs.

He added that marketers who bought products on Friday paid between N1,210 and N1,220 per litre. “The non-availability of fuel at some filling stations and the closure of others are due to fluctuations in the price of lifting fuel from depots.

“Since the Dangote refinery stopped selling PMS about four days ago, private depot owners have increased their prices. Many filling stations that have exhausted their stock are waiting to see whether prices will come down when the Dangote refinery resumes sales or increase further. Only a few marketers are buying products for now because of the uncertainty,” he said.

Akanni, however, maintained that there was no fuel scarcity, urging motorists and other consumers not to engage in panic buying. “There is no fuel scarcity. Members of the public should not panic. Although there is a possibility of an increase in the pump price if the current situation persists,” he said.

The zonal chairman said the Dangote refinery neither gave prior notice nor explained the reason for the suspension of PMS sales to marketers. Akanni said four truckloads of petrol meant for his filling stations had remained at the refinery since the suspension of loading.

“I was supposed to have received four truckloads of PMS four days ago, but that has not happened because the trucks are at the Dangote refinery, which has not been selling. The company is not even loading its own trucks. They are all parked there,” he said.

The IPMAN chief said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited was also affected because it sourced products from the Dangote Refinery. According to him, private depots are now selling PMS for as much as N1,250 per litre, while marketers can obtain products from NIPCO and Aiteo at about N1,200 per litre.

“The major issue now is the fluctuation in depot prices, which has created uncertainty in the market,” Akanni said.

However, a spokesman for the Dangote Group dismissed the report as “fake news”, accusing some marketers of spreading false information. The spokesman told one of our correspondents that the refinery had not stopped loading petroleum products.

“The refinery is loading. Anybody can go there to check. That’s fake news to say we are not loading,” the official, who pleaded not to have his name in print due to the sensitive nature of the matter, stated.

He noted that marketers importing petrol were finding it difficult to compete because prices in Lomé, Togo, had risen, making it increasingly difficult to match Dangote’s prices.

Reports sayes that the Federal Government and the Dangote Petroleum Refinery have yet to reach an agreement on the issues that prompted the refinery to adopt a dollar-based pricing template, a development that could prolong uncertainty in the downstream petroleum sector and lead to a further increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol.

A senior government official involved in the ongoing discussions revealed on Sunday. The PUNCH gathered that the ongoing standoff is caused by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery grievance on the continued issuance of import licences to marketers and a row on the modalities of crude oil supply.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, said the dispute had gone beyond the price of petrol, stressing that it was also linked to the volume of crude supplied to the refinery and the proportion of crude sold to it in naira.

According to the official, the refinery has been unhappy with the Federal Government over the continued issuance of import licences to some oil marketers despite its ability to refine large volumes of petrol for the domestic market.

The official said Dangote was also dissatisfied with the volume of crude supplied to the refinery by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, as well as the relatively small proportion of the crude purchased in naira.

“So the issue is that Dangote is unhappy about two things; one is that the government gave import permits. They issued import permits to some companies while his refinery is capable. So he was already angry on that level.