IPMAN shops for credit facility for $10b refinery amid petrol price volatility
Amid acute Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) petrol price volatility, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) is set to shop for a credit facility to establish its $10 million
Amid acute Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) petrol price volatility, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) is set to shop for a credit facility to establish its $10 million refinery.
The move is a sequel to the recent adjustments in the market from the bulk suppliers, Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP).
Only this year, the 650,000BSPD has altered the prices thrice, plunging the marketers into pain and gain.
While the change in crude oil, the major component in the price template, is largely to blame, the vulnerability has unsettled the marketers who bear the shock, losses, and uncertainty.
Speaking with the IPMAN National President, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, on the phone yesterday, he said the easiest way out of the volatility is for the Independent marketers to build and operate their own refinery in-country.
He described financial constraint as the major snag inhibiting the take- off of the 300BSPD plant.
According to him, the plant (IPMAN Refinery and Petrochemicals Company's proposed site is in Akwa Ibom State.
Maigandi also revealed to The Nation that the association is set to present the proposal and request for a credit facility to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in March.
He also revealed that once the association secures the loan, which may attract equity, the company can bring the project to completion within a year.
Asked whether the marketers will remain at the mercy of Dangote forever, Maigandi said, "The Independent marketers are to seek the support of the government to build their own refinery.
"We have already perfected our proposal that we are presenting to the President in March.
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"The plant is named IPMAN Refinery and Petrochemicals Company. It is situated in Akwa Ibom State. It has 300barrels per day capacity. It will cost us $10 billlion to bring it to completion in one year."
Since the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) ceded the status of being the sole importer and supplier of the PMS upon the removal of the subsidy, its Port Harcourt Refinery and Petrochemicals and the Warri Refinery Petrochemicals have been shut down.
Aside from the DPRP, which the latest Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) showed supplied 40.1 million litres of the 63 ml domestic petrol, the 23 million litres balance is sourced from imports because domestic modular refineries have no capacity to turn out PMS.
The IPMAN boss also disclosed that independent marketers have started taking delivery of Dangote petrol.
He, however, explained that since the refinery has not made good its promise of free direct delivery of the product to the marketers, they rely on MRS for the fuel.
According to him, since the marketers still incur transportation costs from conveying the product from MRS to their retail outlets, it is impossible for them to vend it at the same pump price as MRS.
"We cannot sell at the same pump price as MRS because Dangote Refinery is not delivering the petrol to us directly as planned.
"We have been getting it indirectly from MRS, and we still spend money to take it to our stations, so we can't compete with MRS, which is our supplier," he said.
