By Bayero Ade
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced that it will limit the sale of petrol from the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC) to its own retail outlets. This decision follows the refinery’s restart of operations earlier this week.
Located in Eleme, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the refinery resumed production on Tuesday and is expected to produce at least 200 truckloads of products daily. However, the NNPCL emphasized that it has not yet initiated bulk sales to marketers, nor has it opened its purchase portal for external buyers.
Olufemi Soneye, NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, confirmed that the refinery’s products, including petrol, diesel, and kerosene, are being supplied exclusively to NNPCL-operated retail outlets at this stage. “We regularly review and adjust our pricing structure as needed,” Soneye stated.
This announcement came amidst concerns from the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), which highlighted the higher cost of petrol from the Port Harcourt Refinery. According to PETROAN, petrol from the refinery is priced N75 per litre higher than that from the Dangote Refinery.
Dr. Joseph Obele, PETROAN’s Public Relations Officer, pointed out that NNPCL sells petrol to marketers at N1,045 per litre, while Dangote Refinery offers it at N970 per litre, creating a price disparity that increases costs for marketers.
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