Business

NNPC sells petrol to IPMAN at N995/litre

Published

2 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Trends Admin

NNPC sells petrol to IPMAN at N995/litre

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has agreed to supply Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for N995 per litre.

This came when the Department of State Services stepped in to resolve the dispute between the two parties.

The National Vice President of IPMAN, Hammed Fashola, informed our correspondent that the DSS intervention resolved many of the issues that merchants had.

Fashola also acknowledged that, as a result of their participation, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority agreed to pay the association’s unpaid N10 billion while resolving concerns with direct petrol purchases from the Dangote refinery.

“We really appreciate their intervention. They are doing their job. Anywhere they have seen that there may be a crisis, it is their duty to intervene. And their intervention brokered peace and understanding between the parties, and everybody agreed to work together,” Fashola stated.

Speaking on how much the NNPC will sell PMS to IPMAN, he replied, “For now, tentatively, I think they are offering us N995 per litre.”

With the N995 ex-depot pricing, Fashola promised that IPMAN members would no longer sell at costs much greater than those of large marketers, but said that distance is another reason for overpriced PMS.

“Our members sell at N1,200 or so, and this depends on the location. I think with the N995, there will be a little reduction. Don’t forget that if you transport a product from Lagos to a far distance, you will pay for transportation and other charges.

“We want to work on that because we want to have common ground. When we sit down and look at the price analysis offered to us and factor in all our expenses, we want to have a uniform price as much as possible.

“So, I will not be able to tell you the exact price now, but we are working on it, especially in the Lagos axis and other zones. We will look at the transportation cost and all that. At the end of the day, we will fix the price for ourselves,” he stated.

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The IPMAN head highlighted that IPMAN is interested in competitive prices, citing price disparities as a detriment to independent marketers.

“The price disparity has been a disadvantage between us and the NNPC Retail and major marketers. So, we are trying to look at how to close that gap so that we come back fully into the business. The lack of direct supply has been our problem, and now that we are solving that problem, I don’t think that disparity will be there again,” he stressed.

Fashola elucidated that the price differential is the reason for the queues in some filling stations in the cities.

“The queues you see are because of that difference in prices; that’s why people are saying there are queues. There are no queues; it is the price disparity that is causing the queues. So, if there is not much difference, we have filling stations everywhere; just drive in, buy fuel, and go. But that so much difference in the price is creating that scenario of queues,” he narrated.

Speaking on the directive that marketers can now buy petrol directly from local refineries, Fashola said the association would meet with Dangote this week.

“For now, we intend to meet with Dangote this week to see how we work out the modalities and all that. The Federal Government has given a directive, and we want to take full advantage of that,” he posited.

The IPMAN vice president emphasised that the association is not ignoring the NNPC either, as it would patronise the best price.

“At the same time too, we are not ignoring NNPC. So, whichever way, we are ready to do business with NNPC. It depends on the price; we go for the best.

IPMAN disclosed on Thursday that the cost of fuel from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to NNPC was approximately N898/litre, but that NNPC was selling the same product to independent marketers in Lagos for N1,010/litre.

The association, which owns more than 70% of filling stations in the country, protested and threatened to shut down operations, as well as a return from the NNPC for previous petrol supply payments made by its members.

Abubakar Maigandi, the IPMAN national president, said in a live television interview on Thursday that the price was greater than what the NNPC paid for the Dangote refinery product.

He also stated that the national oil company had kept independent marketers’ funds for almost three months.

According to him, the NNPC acquired the fuel from the refinery for N898/litre but is demanding marketers to pay N1,010/litre in Lagos, N1,045 in Calabar, N1,050 in Port Harcourt, and N1,040 in Warri.

“Our major challenge now is that independent marketers have an outstanding debt from the NNPC, and the company collected products through Dangote at a lower rate, which is not up to N900, but they are telling us now to buy this product from them at the price of N1,010/litre in Lagos; N1,045 in Calabar; N1,050 in Port-Harcourt; and N1,040 in Warri,” Maigandi stated.

NNPC sells petrol to IPMAN at N995/litre

Business

Just in: Fuel, food prices push up inflation to 32.70%

Published

2 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Trends Admin

Just in: Fuel, food prices push up inflation to 32.70%

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has risen to 32.70%, propelled by increases in transportation cost and food prices.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this on Tuesday in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report which reflected the inflation in September 2024.

This shows a 0.55% increase over 32.15% recorded in August 2024.

This is coming on the heels of increases in petrol prices by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in early September.

The latest rate is 5.98 percentage points higher than the 26.72% recorded in September 2023, indicating a significant increase in inflation over the past year.

The headline inflation rate in September 2024 was 2.52%, 0.30% higher than the 2.22% recorded in August 2024.

Business

FG spends ₦380bn on electricity subsidy in second quarter —NERC

Published

3 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Trends Admin

FG spends ₦380bn on electricity subsidy in second quarter —NERC

The Federal Government paid a total of ₦38bn as a subsidy on electricity consumption in the second quarter of 2024, a report by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has revealed.

The report, covering April to June 2024, also revealed that the government assumed responsibility for 52 per cent of total generation costs, amounting to ₦380.06bn, to shield consumers from tariff increases following the freezing of end-user tariffs at December 2022 levels.

“The NBET invoice payable by the DisCos for 2024/Q2 was only ₦343.76bn because the FGN has taken responsibility for 52 per cent (₦380.06bn) of the total generation costs in the form of subsidies arising from the freezing of end-use customer tariffs at the rates that became effective in December 2022’’, the report stated.

NERC’s report stated further that the total upstream invoice payable by distribution companies (DisCos) for the quarter stood at ₦399.53bn.

According to the report, this consists of ₦343.76bn for adjusted generation costs from the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) and ₦55.77bn for transmission and administrative services provided by the Market Operator (MO).

However, the report noted that DisCos collectively remitted ₦318.65bn, which included ₦271.8bn for NBET and ₦46.78bn for the MO, leaving an outstanding balance of ₦80.88bn.

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This translates to a remittance performance of 79.76 per cent for Q2, a decline from the 96.93 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2024.

The NERC report also highlighted that the revenue collected by DisCos from consumers during the period was ₦431.16bn out of a total of ₦543.64bn billed, reflecting a collection efficiency of 79.31 per cent.

This, the commission, noted marks a slight improvement from the 79.11 per cent collection efficiency recorded in the previous quarter.

Also, on the payments made by bilateral customers during Q2, NERC stated that the International customers paid $9.81 million against the $15.60m invoiced to them by the MO, while domestic bilateral customers paid ₦1.30bn out of ₦1.99bn invoiced.

“In 2024/Q2, the four (4) international bilateral customers serviced by the MO made a cumulative payment of $9.81 million against the $15.60 million invoice issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q2.

“Similarly, the domestic bilateral customers made a cumulative payment of ₦1,295.90m against the cumulative invoice of ₦1,991.30m issued to them by the MO for services rendered in 2024/Q2.

“It is noteworthy that both local and international bilateral customers made payments during 2024/Q2 for outstanding MO invoices from previous quarters; the international bilateral customers paid $16.65m while the domestic bilateral customers paid ₦1,309.97m,” the report stated.

FG spends ₦380bn on electricity subsidy in second quarter —NERC

Business

FG plans 90,000km fibre-optic project

Published

4 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Trends Admin

FG plans 90,000km fibre-optic project

The Federal Government has announced plans to invest 2 billion dollars to deploy a 90,000-kilometre fibre optic project in the country.

The project is designed to expand Nigeria’s fibre optic cable capacity from 35,000km to 125,000km, to boost the terrestrial fibre optic backbone in.

The Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, stated this on Monday in Kano on the sidelines of a facility tour of the vandalised Digital Innovation Park.

It will be recalled that irate youths vandalised the model park during the nationwide protest in August.

Tijani said the investment would provide meaningful connectivity to communities ensuring that schools, hospitals, government establishments and businesses thrive in a digitally connected environment.

According to him, it will also accelerate growth across critical sectors of the economy including education, health, and agriculture.

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“To support this vision, the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy is committed to deepening Nigeria’s digital backbone.

“Through the National Broadband Alliance and in collaboration with Kano State Government, we are simplifying the process for private infrastructure companies to invest in Kano’s digital economy.

“This partnership will facilitate further investment in connectivity, ensuring that key institutions like schools, hospitals and public offices are connected, enabling Kano to become a true digital hub,” he said.

The minister noted that today’s world, technology is the key to unlocking productivity and driving the diversification of Nigeria’s economy.

He said that many countries faced declining populations, stressing that Africa and Nigeria in particular has the advantage of growing a dynamic workforce.

“This is our moment to become a net exporter of technology talent, while also strengthening our own local industries,” he said.

According to Tijani, the Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme is a federal government’s initiative aims to expose three million Nigerians in digital and technical skills.

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This, he said, aimed at addressing growing shortage of skilled digital professionals, software developers, data scientists, cybersecurity experts, who would be driving innovation and growth.

He said the Nigeria’s youthful population was uniquely positioned to fill this gap, with over 300 young people from Kano currently benefiting from the programme as the highest number of participants.

“These young people represent the future, not only of Nigeria, but of the global digital workforce”.
On the vandalised facility, the minister said the IHS Towers would provide support towards its refurbishment.

While commending the IHS for their commitment towards rebuilding the park, Tijjani described it as a symbol of Kano and Nigeria’s aspiration to be at the forefront of the global digital economy.
Earlier, Tajudeen Othman, Kano Commissioner for Science and Technology, lauded the federal government and IHS for the gesture.

Othman restated the state government’s ommitment to invest in science and technology.
Kazeem Oladepo, Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, IHS Towers, assured that the company would soon start work and equiping of the park.