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By Lawrence Agbo
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has explained why motorists are yet to enjoy immediate reductions in petrol pump prices despite recent declines in global crude oil prices.
Speaking on the issue, PETROAN President Billy Gillis-Harry said filling station owners cannot instantly reduce pump prices because much of the fuel currently being sold was purchased at higher prices.
According to him, marketers must first recover the cost of existing stock before passing any savings on to consumers, warning that selling below purchase price would make it difficult to restock and keep filling stations operating.
“When prices go up, we struggle to raise funds to buy products. When prices come down, the costs we incurred remain. If we bought fuel at ₦1,210, it is difficult to sell at ₦1,209 because we still need enough money to replenish our stock,” he said.
Gillis-Harry dismissed allegations that fuel marketers deliberately keep prices high or operate as a cartel, insisting that retailers work on narrow profit margins while trying to maintain steady fuel supplies across the country.
“Both are assumptions. Because it’s not good for anybody at all, whether it’s government or just citizens, to sit down, do an armchair projection, and then assume certain values. That is not correct. For us in PETROAN, our covenant with Nigerian citizens is to ensure that our stations are wet, we give appropriate weights and measures, and we give top quality as we receive it, as approved by NMDPRA,” he stated.
He said marketers are focused on ensuring products remain available at filling stations while earning enough to cover operational expenses.
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“Now, while we have taken the decision to make that, we must be in business. Yes, we will not make the profit we project at all times, but we must still make some profit to be able to pay the cost of doing business,” he said.
The PETROAN president also pointed to the high cost of financing in the downstream sector, noting that retailers often borrow money to purchase fuel and face significant challenges accessing affordable credit.
“I will not point any accusing fingers at anybody because I represent over 8,000 retail outlets in the country, and we do know the size of influence we have. And so we are cautious and careful to make sure that we keep the temperature down at all times. And so we take quite a lot of flak. Things that we do and we accept that you would not even understand, that we go home crying sometimes in the night.
“If I bought products, say, 1,100, and suddenly the price jumped to 1,300, I have to look for 200 Naira to, first of all, make up that price. And 200 Naira has a cost from the financial institutions. And it’s not easy to find any and every financial institution there to give us funds,” he lamented.
To address the problem, he renewed the association’s call for the establishment of a Nigerian energy bank that would provide single-digit interest loans to downstream operators.
On local refining, Gillis-Harry commended the Dangote Refinery for boosting domestic fuel supply but argued that more refineries are needed to increase competition and ultimately drive down petrol prices.
“We have a domestic refinery that has done us well, and personally, I’m proud of that refinery—the Dangote Refinery. But at the end of the day, if we have just only one giant in the house, of course, very soon all the lilliputians will be smashed down,” he said.
He added that retailers source products based on availability and cost, regardless of whether they are imported or refined locally, with the goal of ensuring uninterrupted fuel supply to Nigerians.
