September 3, 2024

President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gilly-Harry has advised Nigerians to prepare for a higher price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in coming days as prices would henceforth be sold at the current market prices.

Gilly-Harry revealed this on Tuesday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Morning Brief.

According to him, current prices of petrol at around N600 per litre may no longer be possible, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited battles to keep the country wet with products.

His stance comes as the NNPCL recently agreed to be in debt of over $6bn to PMS suppliers.

Petrol currently sells for around N950 and above N1000 per litre in filling stations not owned by the NNPCL due to the scarcity of product.

“We have been shouting that they (NNPC) have been selling products at N590 per litre. Who is bleeding? Somebody is bleeding and we need to tell what exactly is going on, we cannot play politics with everything.

When asked whether Nigerians should prepare for a price hike, he said “For me, what I will say is to encourage Nigerians to buy petroleum products at the price that the market forces will determine.

“However, we are fully aware that fuel subsidies of different kinds of products across the world, and oil and gas are a natural blessing for Nigerians. And naturally, we are expecting a subsidy to be paid for that. And I will have to look at the advantages of subsidising just PMS when we have health challenges and other challenges.

“It is a great effort by the NNPC to come out to say it is in debt. And this is what we have advised a very long time ago, that anything that needs to be done in this sector should be done transparently so that people don’t guess and get into panic.

“For us as retail outlet owners, it is a situation that has given us a concern to also look inwards and see what dialogues can bring.

“Three days ago, there was information that we should look for other solutions out of the box.

“So it is going to be a tough one. NNPC Ltd is the only one that has access to expendable amounts of dollars to import PMS or any other product at this time, because they have a ready market, and they also earn in dollars, given that our refineries are yet to come on stream.

“It definitely means that we have to think out of the box and become creative in certain ways that will help us to be able to serve Nigerians.

“For my members, we have suffered a great deal. You see our filling stations across the country, but there is no business. So it is a concern for all of us but we all can think out of the box and come out with a solution to the crisis.

“Recall that when the deregulation regime started in 2023, some members who had access to forex were also importing. And of course, the reason they stopped was because you cannot land products within the rate of $1 per litre, and try to sell it for 30/40n cents.

“So there could be business arrangements with refineries and owners of trading companies that could also come to the rescue.

“Nigerians are creative and I know a lot of Nigerians are already working. PETROAN is also putting together a couple of ideas that will aggregate funds, and see how that in itself can become a solution.

“So yes, NNPC has the capacity, and incidentally we are here and we hope that we can hurriedly walk this road and get out of it. Yes, I agree that when information is given, it should be brutally honest so that we know exactly where we stand. PETROAN and other sister organisations with bigger capacities are also doing the same thing.

“There are so many things that Nigerians can do to get tradable dollars which we have left.”

He advised Nigeria to get more involved in agriculture and pharmaceutical products exportations to get more dollars into the country. He urged governors to also come to he rescue by making lands accessible for farmers.

He said PETROAN is already in talks with some of the trading companies on how to aggregate naira in Nigeria in exchange for products.

“But for that to work, we will still need a lot of approvals to get that done. Some of our members already have import licences which have been dormant due to foreign exchange challenges.

He said he was unable to comment on the current petrol stock available in the country and for how long it would last.

“NMDPRA is saddled with such responsibility and should be able to clarify to Nigerians what stock we have. But I am aware that there is a possibility that on Saturday, NNPC will supply products to us for distribution across the country. That is why we keep encouraging NNPC to do more.

“To my knowledge, it is not like they are sitting with their arms crossed. All we say is that let the solution be faster to lessen the suffering of Nigerians.”

He attributed the current high prices of petrol to the distance NNPC has to cover to bring the products into the country.

On why the prices of petrol are currently high, he said “You are trying to buy water, and you ask the water merchant to supply you. But the supplier has to walk miles to get the water to you. The price of water you get nearby will be different from the one you get far away. The answer is no. That is what is happening. The cost of bringing in products today is much because of the distance.