… limits petroleum products supply from restreamed refinery to its retail outlets

Gillis-Harry, PETROAN President debunks pricing claims, awaits NNPC’s official PMS announcement

Oredola Adeola

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has announced that the recently restreamed Old Port Harcourt Refinery is yet to commence bulk sales or open its purchase portal for petroleum marketers, as its products are currently reserved exclusively for supply to its over 1,000 retail outlets.

NNPC Limited’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, disclosed this in a statement obtained by Advisors Reports on Friday.

The statement addresses misinformation allegedly spread by Joseph Obele, who claimed to represent the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), falsely stating that NNPC Retail Ltd had set the Port Harcourt refinery’s PMS price at N1,030 per litre and opened its product request portal for bookings.

Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, National President of PETROAN, swiftly refuted the claims attributed to Joseph Obele, clarifying that the NNPC Port Harcourt Refinery has not announced any new price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

The National President of PETROAN confirmed that members of the association have continued to purchase PMS at the old pricing template while awaiting the announcement of new prices.

Expressing optimism about the resumption of production and loading activities at the Port Harcourt Refinery, he noted that PETROAN members are hopeful that NNPC will soon release the new PMS price, ensuring it benefits Nigerians.

Meanwhile, Mr. Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson clarified in his statement that critical processes are still being finalized before the bulk sales and purchase portal for products from the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) is opened.

He explained that the products currently being sold are sourced from the Dangote Refinery and include applicable NMDPRA fees, while those from the PHRC are exclusively reserved for NNPC’s retail outlets at this stage.

“Our pricing is reviewed and adjusted periodically as necessary to reflect operational realities,” Soneye stated.

He therefore urged the public to disregard any misleading pricing information.

The NNPC’s spokesman assured that official announcements would be made if and when price reviews occur.