Marketers join queue as Dangote Refinery prepares to receive last batch of crude oil

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has shown interest in Dangote Petroleum Refinery's products.

It made this known in a letter requesting the allocation of products from the plants, Abubakar Maigandi, its National president told The Nation.

This is on the back of a report that the 650,000 bpd-capacity Dangote Refinery in Lagos will get the last tranche of one million barrels of crude oil on Monday, January 8, 2024, which sets the stage for the commencement of operations at the facility.

Follow up mails to Dangote Refinery

While the refinery has yet to respond to the request, the association has a follow-up mail to the plant.

Maigandi noted that IPMAN members, with 80% of the retail outlets nationwide, plan to secure direct allocation from Africa's largest refinery for onward distribution to the consumers.

Now that the Yuletide is over, he expressed optimism that its delegation will meet with the refinery's management.

He said: “We wrote to Dangote Refinery, and we are waiting for his response. We have sent another letter.

“We want him to give us part of his allocation from his production since we cover more than 80% of Nigeria. We want to partner with him so that he can give us allocation to our marketers.”

Maigandi noted that the petrol market has been very stable but mentioned that marketers were still grappling with transportation challenges.

According to him, the transportation glitches result from the debt the defunct Petroleum Equalisation Fund owed the marketers for bridging the product when there was a subsidy.

He urged the government to pay the marketers for the smooth distribution of products across the country.

Maigandi said: “Private depots sell N621 while others sell N615. NNPC sells for N557/litre, depending on the location. There is no delay in loading.

“We have issues with transportation because of the outstanding debts since the Petroleum Equalisation Fund. The government needs to pay marketers from when it was scrapped to now.”