The national president of the Petroleum Retailers Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, has explained why fuel prices may hit above N1,000 per litre
According to him, Nigerians will have to buy petrol at N1,000 per litre in the coming days based on the outcome of the Naira-for-crude deal discussion between Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Government through Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
This comes after the recent hike in petrol prices to between N930 and N960 per litre from N860 and N880 in Dangote Refinery’s partners, MRS filling stations, and others. Explaining the recent petrol price increment he said;
You can’t blame anyone. It’s the deregulation of the downstream sector. It’s the economic and environmental factors. That’s what we really need.
Why are people blaming Dangote Refinery or the federal government? Has anybody confirmed that the government has stopped the Naira-for-crude deal? He told Daily Post.
So, that is why we feel that nobody should jump into conclusion to say the deal has been stopped. And therefore, based on that, after all, between that time and today, NNPC was still supplying crude in Nigeria and Sudan. So, for now, you can’t conclude that it is because of that deal that we are in this current quagmire of pricing. PETROAN took the matter frontally with the Honourable Minister of Petroleum.
And we were clearly explained that there are processes that are going on to review what has been done in the last 180 days, which ended today. And based on what we found out, the way forward was not in any way to stop. The way forward is not in any way to stop the Naira-for-crude deal.
So, until that decision is made and pronounced, we cannot say that that has been stopped. And so, that cannot be the reason.
And that is why we are careful that nobody should blackmail the system. And any information that’s coming out should have empirical evidence of reality. So, if I, as a businessman, determine that there are speculations for my enterprise and I want to take certain precautionary decisions, I’m free to do so because it’s my business.
And the Dangote Refinery business is primarily a private business that is operating in a free trade zone. So, they have a right to make decisions in the way that they like. Those decisions, in our opinion, should suit how the pricing of the market will be, being that it is the biggest refinery in Africa.
And then, like I said, there will be economic and environmental factors that will determine prices of products, goods, or services. So, if, for any reason, something has changed and that will respond to the price dynamics of demand and supply, so will it be. So, for me, I will blame it on the changes that are experienced in the economic price, I mean, the economic and environmental factors. That will be the reason for that. And I don’t think I want to hold anyone accountable specifically for that.
So, if other refineries are also anticipating selling their products in dollars, then we would have dollarized the Nigerian economy, which would be a defeat for us because the naira would be crushed.
When asked whether Nigerian will keep experiencing fluctuations in the price of oil whether they like it or not, the PETROAN boss said
I have said it based on variable evidence that you laid out to me: the price will not be stable for a while. The stability of price will only come after a consistent average has been achieved. That is when we can say this price will be somewhat stable and the movement will not be too volatile. But as long as we are still in this situation where we are doing experiments, prices will continue to be flexible.
The same market prices will determine whether we are going to get N1,000 per litre. We are already selling N950 and above. So there is no way the price of petrol will not climb up. But from a physical perspective, we only work with empirical evidence.
I have just gone back to the drawing board, and we will ask our members to review. Let us see what the realities will be, and then they can come up with what I will authorise as the price released for the Nigerian public. So for now, this is where I will just stop and allow the juries of the market to determine how we are advancing the business.
But some refiners and stakeholders have been pushing the narrative that marketers, retailers, and depot owners are the reason the current price is going up, following the fact that they store some products, and at the end of the day, they sell to make huge profits. How would you react to that?
