PETROAN Demands 30% Share Of FG’s Discounted Petrol Supply

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has asked the Federal Government to extend its discounted petrol initiative to independent marketers, demanding at least 30 per cent of the supply allocated to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

The association said involving more filling stations would make it easier for Nigerians to access the price reduction, improve petrol distribution, and reduce long queues at NNPC retail outlets.

PETROAN President, Billy Gillis-Harry, made the request during an interview with Arise News, as reported by our correspondent on Saturday, Naija News reports.

He argued that the NNPC’s retail outlets alone might not be enough to distribute the discounted product efficiently across the country, adding that PETROAN’s extensive network could help the government reach more consumers.

Gillis-Harry said the association’s request for 30 per cent was only a minimum, noting that its share could increase depending on the arrangement reached with the NNPC.

“The 30% we mentioned is actually a minimum, because we could do more depending on the dynamics NNPC sees on how we can work together,” he said.

The PETROAN president noted that with more than 230 million Nigerians depending on petroleum products for their daily economic activities, additional retail outlets would help improve access to the product.

He added, “The fact is that we have over 230 million Nigerians dependent on this energy to run their daily economy. The number of NNPC retail outlets, as good as they are, may not be able to do the entire work in an efficient and expeditious manner.”

Gillis-Harry explained that independent marketers needed access to the discounted product to sell petrol at lower prices without completely sacrificing their profit margins.

According to him, unlike NNPC, which can give up part of its profit under the initiative, independent marketers lack the financial strength to absorb similar losses.

“We don’t have the deep pockets of NNPC to forego profits. The reason is simple: if we have the product already well-discounted landing at our outlets, we can sell at a much cheaper price than if we buy from other sources,” he said.

He stressed that PETROAN was not asking the government or the NNPC to supply petrol to its members for free.

Instead, the association wants to buy the discounted product from the NNPC and distribute it through its members’ filling stations across the country.

Gillis-Harry said the arrangement would let NNPC extend the benefits of its initiative to more locations without relying solely on its own retail network.

“We’d just be an extension of NNPC’s efforts, just doing what NNPC is doing. That way, we are able to carry this same product down to the nooks and crannies of Nigeria,” he stated.

Using a city with a population of about three million people as an example, he said adding 1,000 or 2,000 filling stations to distribute the product would improve supply compared with relying on just 15 outlets.

He added that if the NNPC had one billion litres of petrol available for the initiative, PETROAN wanted at least 300 million litres allocated to its members.

“We will pay NNPC for the product; they don’t give us product for free. Our proposal is simply: if you have 1 billion liters to supply through this method, give us 30% (300 million liters), which we can extend to our members without making it much more expensive,” he said.

PETROAN Links Proposal To Lower Prices, Shorter Queues

The association also argued that extending the discounted petrol supply to independent marketers would help address two major concerns for consumers: availability and affordability.

Gillis-Harry warned that if independent marketers continued to buy petrol from other sources at higher prices, many customers could turn to NNPC stations offering the discounted product, increasing queues at those outlets.

He said distributing the product across more filling stations would spread demand and make petrol easier to obtain.

“We understand the need and dynamics of servicing Nigerians with those two critical points: availability and affordability. This will not be any different,” he said.

The PETROAN president added that the association had presented its proposal to the government and was waiting for a response.

He expressed optimism that the government would approve the request, arguing that the arrangement would help achieve the purpose of the discounted petrol initiative.

Gillis-Harry also disagreed with suggestions that the NNPC’s discounted petrol initiative amounted to a return of fuel subsidy.

He explained that a subsidy would require the government to pay the difference between the landing cost of petrol and the amount charged at the pump.

According to him, the current arrangement involves the NNPC giving up part of its profit to reduce the selling price rather than the government paying the difference.

“No, I do not agree that subsidy is returning. When we say PMS is subsidized, it means landing cost, just as an example, is ₦1,350 and the government takes the shock of ₦700. That is a subsidy,” he said.

He added that under the current arrangement, the NNPC was expected to offer a ₦16 discount from its profit.

Gillis-Harry noted that the NNPC could source the petrol from local refineries or through imports before applying the discount.

He maintained that PETROAN’s proposal was simply to allow independent marketers to participate in the arrangement and extend its benefits to more Nigerians.

The association’s president also expressed reservations about the proposal to place a ₦1,350-per-litre ceiling on petrol landing costs.

He argued that setting a specific landing cost in advance could become problematic if market prices fell below the proposed level.

Gillis-Harry said the government should avoid a policy that could interfere with market movements when the objective was to make petrol more affordable.

“Our reaction is that it will be difficult to pre-determine what the landing cost will be. The moment we start working towards that, it takes us away from this intervention, which is supposed to just be a discount,” he said.

He asked what would happen if the landing cost dropped to ₦1,250 per litre after the government had set a ceiling of ₦1,350.

“We do not think that is a better policy. At the end of the day, we need the government to ensure there is support for business,” he added.

Gillis-Harry said supporting retail businesses would help filling stations continue providing petrol, diesel and gas to Nigerians.

PETROAN Awaits FG’s Response

The association maintained that its members would sell the discounted petrol at the same price as NNPC retail outlets if the government approved its request.

Gillis-Harry said PETROAN was not seeking a separate pricing arrangement but wanted to help the NNPC distribute the product more widely.

“It will not be any different from what NNPC is doing, because all we are doing is being an extension,” he said.

He added that the association was still waiting for the Federal Government to respond to its proposal.

“Yes, we are waiting, and hopefully they will respond,” he stated.