The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has said petrol sold by Dangote Refinery ought to be cheaper now as the cost of production of petrol was now below N600 per litre.
This is just as it faulted the Dangote Refinery for insisting its products would be sold at international market price.
National public relations office (PRO) of PETROAN, Dr Joseph Obele, said this when he was featured as a guest on a live broadcast of Nigeria Info 99.3 FM on Tuesday.
According to him, since the Nigerian government had started selling crude oil to Dangote in Naira, there was no need pegging its price at international market rate.
“Scholars of oil sectors have done an analysis and the analysis has shown that the crude-for-Naira given to Dangote by the Federal Government, cost of production will not go above N600, less than N600. Although the crude oil he imported from the international community, the cost of production will not be above N700.
“But it is wrong for him to say his template for him to fix his refinery selling price is based on and tied to how much the international community is selling. And people are saying the dynamics and the effects and the economic systems at the international market and Nigeria are not the same.
“Dangote should not have fixed his price on the international market. He should have fixed his price on cost of production plus the margin.
“International market (price) in a country where you enjoy so many concessions. While he was building his refinery, the concession he was given for foreign exchange was far less than the official rate to the extent that international experts criticised the concessions given to him. So, in Nigeria, where inflation is high, where the minimum wage is poor, Dangote is fixing our buying rate for PMS which is a commodity that every other commodity revolves around. It is wrong for him to say ‘I templated my price based on the international market,” Obele stated.
