by Our Reporters
Hopes that the resumption of crude oil refining at the Port Harcourt Refinery could drive down the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, may be waning amid doubts that the government-owned refinery has truly resumed refining operations and claims that the product coming out of the refinery is selling higher than Dangote Refinery’s.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited announced on Tuesday, amid an outpouring of congratulatory messages, that the old Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed production and begun truck-out of refined products.
Hopes rose that this would engender competition and lower petrol prices, especially after the Dangote Refinery on Sunday slashed the price of its petrol from N990 to N970 per litre as a way of “appreciating the good people of Nigeria for their unwavering support in making the refinery a dream come true”, according to Dangote Group’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina.
But the hopes are beginning to wane after the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) said the price of petrol coming out of the refinery is N75 per litre higher than that sold by the Dangote Refinery.
The association’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Joseph Obele, who initially applauded the Federal Government for revitalising the old refinery which is said to operate currently at a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, expressed concern over the pricing disparity between petrol supplied by the NNPCL and the Dangote Refinery.
Obele, a former chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) at the Port Harcourt depot, said while Dangote Refinery sells petrol to marketers at N970 per litre, NNPCL’s price stands at N1,045, a difference of N75 per litre.
He said the N75 price differential is a steep margin for businesses, particularly for an industry where profitability hinges on competitive pricing.
He, however, described the refinery’s restoration as a significant step in reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products, noting that the NNPCL Group CEO, Mele Kyari, has promised to address the issue and harmonise prices to mitigate the impact on marketers and consumers.
Meanwhile, a civil society group, Concerned Citizens of Nigeria, is raising a doubt that the Port Harcourt Refinery has truly commenced operations.
According to a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Mahmud Abdul, and five others, the group said the NNPCL’s announcement of the refinery’s commencement of operations is a ruse designed to deceive Nigerians.
The statement claims that the corporation has been shifting deadlines for the completion of the refinery’s repairs, leaving Nigerians to suffer from petrol shortages and high prices.
The Concerned Citizens of Nigeria also alleged that NNPCL’s plan to sell blended products would have a negative impact on engine performance and lifespan.
The statement
We are worried that NNPCL might have misled the country as it has yet to debunk a report that it rather bought ‘Cracked C5 petroleum resins’ and blended it with other products like Naphtha to sell to the Nigerian public as its own product.
“We invite you to note that this reported commencement of operations comes after shifts in dates on at least seven different occasions. NNPCL’s past ineptitude and unbridled corruption give us concerns that the so-called commencement of operations of the refinery has the markings of a fluke, a ruse designed to make Nigerians stop questioning the eternal deadlines that the organisation set.
“The Corporation has now made a bad situation worse by stage managing a resumption of production since it has now been established that NNPCL is not trucking out Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), better known as petrol, from its Port Harcourt Refinery.
“Instead, some videos of NNPCL branded trucks that were used to announce that the refinery has resumed operations and started trucking out PMS were mere movie productions to mislead Nigerians.
“The Concerned Citizens of Nigeria are aware that the supposed commencement was first flown as a kite by certain media platforms quoting unnamed sources, which was purely a false flag operation to test the response of Nigerians.
“The formal speech to the media by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, Femi Soneye, announcing the development was only made after the organisation’s top management concluded that there were limited reactions to their flown kite.
“Our analysis of this development advised us of two possibilities. The first is that the refinery would be stressed to run for a few weeks before the NNPCL and its Mele Kyari-led management saddle the country with a bill for further repairs. A failure to succumb to this blackmail will result in the facility again becoming moribund.
“A second possibility is that NNPCL has not repaired or restored the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Limited to its heydays. This means that the refinery has been technically downgraded and retooled into a blending plant.
“Recall that Nigerians had warned that NNPCL would turn Port Harcourt Refinery into a blending plant. Such concerns were expressed as recently as two months ago in September when some groups faulted the alleged move to convert the Port Harcourt refinery into a blending plant.
“The feeler from this latest development has confirmed that this is exactly what is happening, as petroleum products imported into Nigeria by Kyari would now be sold to Nigerians as locally refined fuel.
“A true test of whether NNPCL will release petrol from the Port Harcourt Refinery into the market would be the pricing. Mele Kyari’s NNPCL plans to sustain the current price band for petrol since that is the only way they can remain profitable from passing off imported substandard petrol as refined in Port Harcourt.”
