Dangote Refinery producing petroleum products in the country is a very good development, especially as this would reduce huge dependence on imported petrol, help conserve foreign exchange and create additional jobs.
This, being a cheery news in the economic projections of the country, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria IPMAN, have appealed to the management of the refinery to look into the prices of the products from the refinery to the Marketers. They called for a downward review in the pump price of the Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, being produced by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to between N700 and N850 per litre, as against the N1,225 per litre as they plan to meet managers of the refinery next week.
The Oil marketer who made this appeal as the said N1,225 per litre diesel price from the indigenous refinery was too high as the commodity is produced in Nigeria and not imported.
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria also asked for a reduction in the price of Dangote diesel.
The groups called for the intervention of the Federal Government and urged the managers of the refinery to consider the high cost of logistics required to transport the product from the Lagos refinery to their respective locations.
The oil marketers pointed out that the product is being imported into the country at the rate of N1,250 per litre following the appreciation of the naira against the dollar, stating that this should make a good reason for Dangote refinery that produces diesel in Nigeria to cut down on its price.
According to the oil marketers, diesel produced at the Dangote refinery has no vessel cost, import charges, and other costs associated with the costs associated with the importation of the commodity into Nigeria.
The government needs to support the construction a d rehabilitation of other indigenous refinery projects currently at different stages nationwide for the benefits of the all.
