IPMAN suspends petrol loading at Dangote refinery over sales halt
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says its members have temporarily stopped loading Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery following the company’s suspension of fuel loading operations.
The Western Zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Oyewole Akanni, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), explaining that the development has forced marketers to source petrol from private depots at significantly higher prices.
According to him, the uncertainty surrounding fuel prices has led many marketers to suspend fresh purchases, while some filling stations have temporarily shut down after exhausting their stock.
Akanni said the absence of fuel at some outlets was not due to scarcity but the fluctuating cost of lifting products from private depots.
He noted that since Dangote refinery halted PMS sales about four days ago, depot owners have increased their prices, prompting many marketers to wait for the refinery to resume sales before making further purchases.
Despite the disruption, the IPMAN official urged Nigerians not to panic, insisting there was no nationwide fuel shortage.
“There is no fuel scarcity. Members of the public should not panic,” he said, although he warned that pump prices could rise if the situation continues.
Akanni also said Dangote refinery neither gave marketers prior notice nor provided reasons for suspending petrol sales.
He revealed that four truckloads of petrol meant for his filling stations had remained at the refinery since loading operations were halted.
“I was supposed to have received four truckloads of PMS since four days ago, but that has not happened because the trucks are at the Dangote refinery, which has not been selling,” he said.
“The company is not even loading its own trucks. They are all parked there.”
He added that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited was also affected because it sources petroleum products from the Dangote refinery.
The development comes days after reports indicated that fuel importers were preparing to increase the depot price of petrol from N1,230 per litre to N1,350 per litre, raising concerns over a possible increase in retail pump prices.
