PETROAN Asks Federal Government to Allocate 30 Percent of Discounted Petrol to Independent Marketers

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria has asked the Federal Government to allocate at least 30 per cent of its discounted petrol supply to independent marketers.

PETROAN President Billy Gillis-Harry made the request during an interview on Arise News, saying the move would improve nationwide distribution and make the price reduction accessible to more Nigerians.

Gillis-Harry argued that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited retail outlets alone cannot distribute the discounted product efficiently across the country, citing Nigeria’s population of over 230 million.

“The 30% we mentioned is actually a minimum, because we could do more depending on the dynamics NNPC sees on how we can work together,” he said.

He explained that independent marketers lack the financial strength of NNPC to absorb losses, and access to the discounted product would allow them to sell at lower prices without sacrificing profit margins.

“We don’t have the deep pockets of NNPC to forego profits. The reason is simple: if we have the product already well-discounted landing at our outlets, we can sell at a much cheaper price than if we buy from other sources,” Gillis-Harry stated.

He stressed that PETROAN is not asking for free petrol, but wants to buy the discounted product from NNPC and distribute it through its members’ filling stations.

Using a city of about three million people as an example, he said adding 1,000 or 2,000 filling stations would improve supply compared with relying on just 15 outlets.

Gillis-Harry also rejected suggestions that the discounted petrol initiative amounts to a return of fuel subsidy, arguing that the arrangement involves NNPC sacrificing part of its profit rather than the government paying the difference between landing cost and pump price.

The association said it has submitted its proposal and is awaiting the Federal Government’s response.