By Adebayo Daramola
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has said that marketers have resorted to converting their fuel stations to car parks, car marts, abattoirs, and event centres due to the the ex-depot price of fuel.
The Chairman NNPC Depot, Ore Western Zone of Nigeria, Engineer Shina Amoo said that ex-depot price has skyrocketed from N172 to N580 per litre, sequel to the removal of fuel subsidy.
He stated that before deregulation or fuel subsidy withdrawal, they bought fuel at an ex-depot price of N172 and sold at N190 or N195 as a pump price but, according to him, now, the ex-depot price has hit N580.
He alleged that some private depot owners now sell fuel to them at N580 per litre as an ex-depot price, whereas, according to him, the depot owners still sell at a pump price of N580 at their own filling stations.
He stated that life has become unbearable for many marketers, following the skyrocketed fuel pump price, which, he said, had led to abysmal patronage.
In an interview with newsmen, he also said many IPMAN members are now grappling with business frustration and financial losses.
According to, because of low sales, many marketers cannot break even.
He also said many of them were having issues with their banks and that banks now decline credit facilities to some marketers.
The IPMAN Ore depot chairman also decried that some oil marketers have even fled the country because of business failure and financial challenges.
He called on the government to make it possible for them to buy at an ex-depot price that would allow them to compete favourably with major marketers and depot owners.
The IPMAN Ore depot Chairman also pleaded with the government to make it possible for their members to access financial facilities, including grants, and that their filling stations should also be used for the Compresses Natural Gas (CNG) conversion.
Amoo said, “Deregulation is the best regime in our sector but the problem with this current regime is that our refineries are not working. Dangote Refinery which we believe will open is not ready. All our government-owned depots are abandoned. All the pipelines are vandalised. There is no solution to the free flow of the product in the country. We are still on importation. That is what we are facing now.
“More than 60 per cent of independent marketers are seriously affected. We are not doing something, we just go to work. We are now selling a ridiculous volume. There is nothing much we are doing.
“They are selling to us as ex-depot prices the pump price they sell at their stations and we are expected to compete favourably with them. Whereas we also incur transportation costs and other costs. As we sell N600, they sell N580. Which customer will patronise us when he can get it at N580 as we sell N600?
“Before they removed subsidy, for example, two or three years back now, many of us could not enjoy the advantages of our licenses, meaning, we had not been getting the product from government depots officially. Many of us had been buying at premiums up and down.
“Now that there is deregulation and subsidy has been removed, we expected an advantage of getting the product from the private depot owners at ex-depot prices. But as I talk to you, many of the private depot owners are selling to us at their pump price rate as ex-depot price.”
