Aviation fuel not sold for N700, oil marketers insist

By Chinelo Obogo, Lagos

The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has said that aviation fuel, also known as jet A1 is not sold at N700 per litre as claimed by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON).

In an interview with the press on Monday in Lagos, the executive secretary of MOMAN, Clement Isong, said contrary to the claims by AON, he is not aware that aviation fuel is sold currently anywhere at N700 per litre.

The AON had threatened to go on strike on Monday, May 9, over the cost of aviation fuel which they said has risen to N700 from N190 per litre.

But Isong said the intervention by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has discouraged marketers from importing aviation fuel because it will be a bad business decision.

“I am not aware that aviation fuel is sold currently anywhere at N700 per litre. There has been an intervention by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation which is now bringing in aviation fuel.

“It gets into tank, all costs together, at about N500 per litre. If we use Ikeja (Murtala Mohammed Airport, local as a benchmark, it is sold there by marketers between N540 and N550 per litre.

Nobody with common sense will go and bring in aviation fuel now that NNPC is bringing in product and selling it cheap.

“NNPC is bringing in the product because it is swapping it with crude and when it swaps it with crude it uses the Central Bank of Nigeria exchange rate of N419 to a dollar. Meanwhile, the product is deregulated. So no normal person can go and get it at that exchange rate. You cannot use N589 (black market rate) to a dollar to bring in the product and sell at N550 per litre.

“It is carried by special trucks, so there are extra handling costs. Even with these costs, it is sold at the tarmac between N540 and N550 per litre in Lagos and by the time you carry it all over the country including transportation costs, it will be sold at about N570 or N580 at the farthest airport from Lagos. There is nowhere aviation fuel is sold at N700 per litre,” he said.

Reacting to the same issue, the chairman of MOMAN, Olumide Adeosun, said in a press statement on Monday said the petroleum products downstream industry which is engaged in
logistics and distribution of fuel are suffering the impact of higher costs brought about by the post-covid world economy and the war between Russia and Ukraine.

He said aviation fuel is subject to international price movements which are currently suffering the
twin shock of increased post-pandemic demand and the ongoing sanctions against Russia, a large producer of petroleum products.