Economy
NNPC Lying About Reason for Fuel Scarcity—Oil Marketers
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been accused of not being truthful to Nigerians on the main cause of the present shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, across the country.
Oil marketers, under the umbrella of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), in a statement dated Monday, December 25, 2017, denied claimed by government that they were behind the situation through hoarding of the product.
In the statement signed by the Executive Secretary of DAPPMA, Mr Olufemi Adewole, it was explained that the main reason for the shortage was because the state-owned oil firm was not importing enough fuel that will meet the demand of citizens.
“Some people have blamed marketers for hoarding fuel. Unfortunately, this is so far from the truth. Hoarding fuel is regarded as economic sabotage and we assure all Nigerians that our members are not involved in such illicit acts,” the oil marketers said.
Speaking further, DAPPMA said normally, it imports 65 percent of the country’s consumption with Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) bringing in 15 percent, and the NNPC importing the remaining 20 percent.
The group said however, since October 2017, the NNPC has been the sole importer of petrol into the country.
Giving reason for this, DAPPMA said the landing cost of petrol was now N170 per litre and with the government capping pump price at N145 per litre without room for increment, it was impossible for its members to import fuel into Nigeria and still sell at N145 per litre to Nigerians.
“As it stands today, NNPC has been the sole importer of PMS into the country since October 2017 due to the following reasons’
“We all know that we presently run a fixed price regime of N145 per litre for PMS without any recourse to subsidy claims, however, we also have no control on the international price of crude oil.
“Current import price of petrol is about N170 per litre, NNPC, which absorbs the attendant subsidy on behalf of the Federal Government, is the importer of last resort.
“We understand that the NNPC meets this demand largely through its DSDP framework; however, due to price challenges on the DSDP platform, some participants in the scheme failed to meet their supply quota of refined petroleum products, especially PMS, to NNPC. This is the main reason for this scarcity.”
“The international price of PMS went up during the Hurricane Katrina and has not dropped below $600 per metric tonne.
“The exchange rate of the Dollar to the Naira is N306 for PMS imports and also interest rate our banks charge is above 25 percent.
“Landing cost of PMS in Nigeria, based on the scenario above is more than N145 per litre, which means any of our member that imports would have to resort to subsidy claims, a policy already jettisoned by the Federal Government,” it said.
Reacting to the claims by NNPC that it has enough fuel to meet the demands on Nigerians, the association said, “It is on record that anytime the NNPC assumes the role of sole importer, there are issues of distribution, because it is marketers who own 80 percent of the functional receptive facilities and retail outlets in Nigeria.
“While we cannot confirm or dispute NNPC’S claims of having sufficient product stock, we can confirm that the products are not in our tanks and as such cannot be distributed. If the products are offshore, then surely, it cannot be considered to be available to Nigerians.”
It further noted that, “NNPC imports and distributes through DAPPMA, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
“Our members pay PPMC/NNPC in advance for petroleum products, and fully paid up PMS orders that have neither been programmed nor loaded is in excess of 500,000 metric tonnes, about 800 million litres, as at today, and enough to meet the nation’s needs for 19 days at a daily estimated consumption of 35 million litres.”
Concluding, DAPPMA said, “Our members’ depots are presently empty! However, if the PPMC/NNPC can provide us with PMS, we are ready to do 24 hours loading/truck out to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians until these fuel queues are totally eliminated.
“Fuel marketers remain committed to the progress of the nation and its citizenry as therein lies our own profitability and fulfilment.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange expanded for the first session this week by 1.27 per cent on Wednesday, February 25.
This lifted the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) above 4,000 points, with a 50.45-point addition to close at 4,025.25 points compared with the previous day’s 3,974.80 points, as the market capitalisation added N30.19 billion to close at N2.408 trillion versus Tuesday’s N2.378 trillion.
At the trading session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by N5.00 to trade at N100.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N95.00 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc improved by N4.18 to sell at N70.00 per unit versus N65.82 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc increased by 14 Kobo to trade at N1.59 per share compared with the previous day’s N1.45 per share.
However, the share price of Geo-Fluids Plc depreciated by 27 Kobo at midweek to close at N3.27 per unit, in contrast to the N3.30 per unit it was transacted a day earlier.
At the midweek session, the volume of securities went down by 25.3 per cent to 8.7 million units from 11.6 million units, the value of securities decreased by 92.5 per cent to N80.7 million from N1.2 billion, and the number of deals slipped by 33.3 per cent to 32 deals from the preceding session’s 48 deals.
At the close of business, CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 34.1 million units exchanged for N2.0 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 6.3 million units traded for N1.1 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.0 million units valued at N478.0 million.
Resourcery Plc ended the trading session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 1.05 billion units valued at N408.7 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 122.0 million units sold for N478.0 million, and CSCS Plc with 34.1 million units worth N2.0 billion.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears consolidated their dominance on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday, inflicting an additional 0.09 per cent cut on the market.
At midweek, the market capitalisation of the domestic stock exchange went down by N73 billion to N124.754 trillion from the preceding day’s N124.827 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) slipped by 114.32 points to 194,370.20 points from 194,484.52 points.
A look at the sectoral performance showed that only the consumer goods index closed in green, gaining 1.19 per cent due to buying pressure.
However, sustained profit-taking weakened the insurance space by 3.79 per cent, the banking index slumped by 2.07 per cent, the energy counter went down by 0.24 per cent, and the industrial goods sector shrank by 0.22 per cent.
Business Post reports that 25 equities ended on the gainers’ chart, and 54 equities finished on the losers’ table, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
RT Briscoe lost 10.00 per cent to sell for N10.35, ABC Transport crashed by 10.00 per cent to N6.75, SAHCO depreciated by 9.98 per cent to N139.35, Haldane McCall gave up 9.93 per cent to trade at N3.99, and Vitafoam Nigeria decreased by 9.93 per cent to N112.50.
Conversely, Jaiz Bank gained 9.95 per cent to settle at N14.03, Okomu Oil appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N1,765.00, Trans-nationwide Express chalked up 9.77 per cent to close at N2.36, Fortis Global Insurance moved up by 9.72 per cent to 79 Kobo, and Champion Breweries rose by 5.39 per cent to N17.60.
Yesterday, 1.4 billion shares worth N46.2 billion were transacted in 70,222 deals compared with the 1.1 billion shares valued at N53.4 billion traded in 72,218 deals a day earlier, implying a rise in the trading volume by 27.27 per cent, and a decline in the trading value and number of deals by 13.48 per cent and 2.76 per cent, respectively.
Fortis Global Insurance ended the session as the busiest stock after trading 193.7 million units for N152.7 million, Zenith Bank transacted 120.7 million units worth N11.1 billion, Japaul exchanged 114.8 million units valued at N407.0 million, Ellah Lakes sold 98.4 million units worth N999.2 million, and Access Holdings traded 63.1 million units valued at N1.7 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A 74 Kobo or 0.05 per cent decline was recorded by the Naira against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, February 25, trading at N1,356.11/$1 compared with the N1,355.37/$1 it was traded on Tuesday.
The Nigerian currency also further depreciated against the Pound Sterling during the session in the official market by N6.70 to settle at N1,834.96/£1 versus the preceding day’s rate of N1,828.26/£1, and against the Euro, it tumbled by N4.94 to quote at N1,598.59/€1 compared with the previous session’s N1,596.36/€1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira lost N6 against the Dollar at the GTBank forex desk to close at N1,367/$1, in contrast to N1,361/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier, and in the parallel market, it traded flat at N1,365/$1.
The continuation of the decline of the local currency has been tied to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) buying US Dollars from the market to slow the rapid rise of the Naira.
The apex bank bought about $189.80 million to reduce excess Dollar supply and control how fast the Naira was gaining value.
The monetary policy committee (MPC) of the CBN on Tuesday reduced interest rates by 50 basis points to 26.50 per cent from 27 per cent after inflation eased in January 2026, a move analysts say is the best not to unsettle FX market, especially the Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI_ inflows which have anchored much of the recent supply and weakened the recently restored monetary credibility.
“The 50bps move therefore provides a clear directional signal while still keeping overall monetary conditions restrictive, indicating the start of a shallow, data-dependent easing cycle rather than a radical shift to accommodative policy,” said Mr Kayode Akindele, CEO, Coronation Capital and Head, Coronation Research in an email.
As for the cryptocurrency market, benchmarked tokens rebounded in double digits, driven by bearish positioning and thin liquidity rather than by clear fundamental catalysts, with Cardano (ADA) growing by 16.2 per cent to $0.3015, and Solana (SOL) appreciating by 12.3 per cent to $88.66.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) surged 11.9 per cent to $2,076.66, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 11.5 per cent to $57.15, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 11.5 per cent to $0.1025, Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 7.6 per cent to $629.76, Ripple (XRP) jumped 7.2 per cent to $1.45, and Bitcoin (BTC) added 6.4 per cent to sell for $68,136.72, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
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