President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, has clarified the controversy surrounding the Port Harcourt refinery’s operations.
Reacting to claims by some critics that the refinery is merely a blending plant, Gillis-Harry emphasised that blending is a standard practice in crude oil refining processes worldwide.
The Port Harcourt refinery, which resumed operations on Tuesday, has been touted as a crucial step in reducing Nigeria’s reliance on fuel imports. The NNPC was very transparent when it clearly stated that there is a blending process within the industry’s ambit.
In his words on Arise TV News, “I do not know any refinery in the world today that does not engage in blending. And why do you blend? You blend because of the volatility of different products.
“So, for the PMS, the volatility rate is very high, and there has to be some blending that will enable the volatility to be stable. Otherwise, you will buy a gasoline of N10,000, and before you know it, it has evaporated.“
Clarifying the controversy surrounding the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Port Harcourt Refinery being N75 higher than that of Dangote Refinery, he noted that the information was “quoted out of context.”
According to Gillis-Harry, PETROAN has not started loading products from the Port Harcourt Refinery due to the lack of approval, adding that the price comparison was based on the old template published by NNPC, which didn’t include pricing for the Port Harcourt Depot.
He emphasised that the conversation was about verifying whether the refinery had produced PMS and whether loading had commenced, not about pricing.
He added that the National Public Relations Officer’s statement about the price was referring to a previous purchase on the NNPC platform, unrelated to the Port Harcourt Refinery.
“We have not started loading products from there because there is no approval yet for PETROAN or anyone to access products from that depot. So, the information about N75 being more than the Dangote refinery was quoted out of context.
“This is because the product we bought the day before yesterday (Monday) and yesterday (Tuesday) was on the old template of what the NNPC published earlier, and there was no price for the Port Harcourt Depot pricing because there were no applications approved. There was no reason to compute what the pricing would be.
“Also, pricing was not the conversation. The conversation was to see if the refinery had produced PMS and if loading had commenced, and it was done. So, the N75 conversation was taken out of context, and I can verify that as the organisation’s national president.
“The National Public Relations Officer was only discussing the price we bought a few days before on the NNPC platform, which has nothing to do with the Port Harcourt refinery. Therefore, I would like us to discount that conversation.”
While speaking on the approval timeline for pricing dynamics at the Port Harcourt refinery, the PETROAN president stated, “It is completely out of context to discuss pricing from the depot at this point.”
He clarified the processes involved, saying that marketers must be qualified with an active license and presence on the NNPC platform to buy products from NNPC.
He noted that once qualified, marketers make an application, and the NNPC automatically approves specific quantities of products for each retail outlet.
Gillis-Harry emphasised that none of these steps have been completed for the Port Harcourt depot, making pricing discussions premature. PETROAN has also proposed that the NNPC fast-track the process to benefit retail outlet owners.
“To buy products from the NNPC Ltd. entails a couple of things. First, you have to be qualified, which means you need to have an active license, and you should be on the NNPC platform. While there, you must also have the off-taker permit from NMDPRA to take from that depot.
“Once you are qualified for that, you make an application, and NNPC, from what I know, automatically approves certain quantities of products for every retail outlet. And once you are given that, you are given a certain number of days to pay. Only when that payment is made can the NNPC programme you to load the product.”
