The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has begun lifting petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
This follows an agreement reached with the refinery last month by IPMAN.
Accoring to a report by The PUNCH, IPMAN members have so far lifted millions of litres of petrol from the Dangote refinery located in the Lekki free trade zone in Lagos.
National Publicity Secretary of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, confirmed that the lifting of petrol from the Dangote refinery started in late November.
He said independent marketers started the prior loading of the product through MRS Oil.
According to Ukadike, this had been taking place pending the completion of the terms of the agreement earlier reached by the refinery.
“There is a pre-arrangement we had. Our experts are putting things together for our documentation. Dangote refinery made some products available to us in MRS and we started the loading gradually (in November). We are buying Dangote products through MRS,” he stated.
Asked if this is not like buying through a middleman, he refuted the claim, saying, “This is not the issue of a middleman. We have to start with something first to bridge that gap.”
Ukadike further stated that it is important to note that independent marketers have started buying PMS directly from the $20bn refinery.
He maintained that the decision by the Dangote refinery to reduce PMS price from N990 per litre to N970 had increased the demand for PMS in the local market.
He added that the deal between IPMAN and Dangote influenced the drop in prices of petroleum products especially as it eliminated middlemen and profiteering.
“The most important thing is that IPMAN members have started buying directly from Dangote. We’ve been uploading products stored in the tank and meant for commuters,” he stated.
