Oil marketers in Nigeria have commenced negotiations with international suppliers to secure cheaper petroleum products in a strategic move to stay competitive, given the low prices already offered by the Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL.
The price war between the two big players has resulted in multiple price cuts over the last few months, with the importers and oil marketers bearing the brunt as they cannot sell their imported stock.
However, this move to secure cheaper fuel imports can give them a fighting chance to reclaim a sizeable share of the Nigerian market.
Note that Dangote refinery currently sells the product at N825 while the partners retail at N865 in Lagos State.
According to the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, negotiations are ongoing to get affordable petrol from foreign traders.
He noted that the prices from the domestic refiners are worrisome, and many filling stations have shut down due to the inability to afford them.
He said: “How do you get cheaper fuel? It is only by arrangement. Marketers will have to find a way to buy what they need to buy.
“The only way we can do it is to collaborate and buy products from a very dependable importer. That’s the only way we can do it.”
He added that the marketers had once reached an agreement with a foreign trader to import fuel at ₦550 per litre and to pay in naira instead of dollars, and Gillis-Harry insisted that it could be done again, explaining: “It is negotiation. That is the power of numbers. That’s why PETROAN can do that because we have the numbers to determine how our businesses can come. But now, we have to make sure that we get it right.”
The PETROAN president revealed that the association had already struck deals with some of the foreign traders in November 2024, and would now be pursuing them to a logical conclusion.
He added that while they encourage local production, the sudden price changes from the domestic refiners have also posed a major challenge for the marketers, often impacting their profits.
