Oil marketers explain why they are selling old stock at new prices

Oil marketers under the auspices of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) indicated that in order to stay in business, its members needed to sell their supply of petrol at the new pricing.

Many of IPMAN’s members have gone out of business as a result of the elimination of gasoline subsidies, since they were unable to raise funds to load from depots and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

This was revealed by IPMAN President, Chinedu Okoronkwo, on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, when he stated that its members immediately increased the pump price of petrol from over N500 per litre to over N617 per litre on Tuesday morning in order to stay afloat.

Okoronkwo stated that with the NNPCL’s pricing adjustment on Tuesday morning, independent marketers raised their prices at retail outlets to reflect the reality of the times.

Okoronkwo said,

• “You need to be in business. If you go back, you will go and buy at a new price. Assuming you are selling N520, then there is a sudden change from where you are getting it, you have to still be in business.
• “Some of my members have gotten to the level of putting products in their tankers, and all of a sudden, there was information that the price has changed. They didn’t load them again. Some are even battling now to see how they can load on that old price and now the new price.”

The IPMAN boss said the timing of the price increment was not the issue but the government must work on how to mitigate the effect of the price adjustment and ease the pressure on the dollar.

However, an ex-President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Peter Esele, faulted the IPMAN boss.

Esele, who was also a guest on Channels Television’s programme on Wednesday, said petrol marketers are taking advantage of the situation to make extra profit, arguing that it is only morally right that marketers sell their old stocks for the old price.