The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, has shed light on the challenges facing the newly revitalized Port Harcourt Refinery, particularly why petroleum marketers are reluctant to lift its products.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, Osifo attributed the issue to a significant price differential between the products of the Port Harcourt Refinery and those of the Dangote Refinery.
He emphasized that the disparity in costs makes it less attractive for marketers to source products from the government-owned refinery.
The Port Harcourt Refinery, recently revamped as part of efforts to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products, had been expected to alleviate supply challenges in the country.
However, the reluctance of marketers to engage with its products poses a setback to its full operational integration into the market.
“What actually happened was that those trucks, at the time, were not loading because they felt, the marketers felt that the Dangote was selling at a cheaper price compared to what the NNPC was selling,” Osifo stated. “So they had these price issues that the trucks were not going there to load. But only the trucks of NNPC were being loaded,” he added.
African Gazette had earlier reported concerns from the management of the Port Harcourt Refinery over marketers’ unwillingness to lift products from the facility despite its recent resumption of operations.
Osifo acknowledged that while the Port Harcourt Refinery is operational, its efficiency is still lagging behind the advanced technology employed at the Dangote Refinery.
He further clarified that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has ceased importing refined petroleum products following the operationalization of both the Port Harcourt and Dangote refineries.
“As of today, I can tell you that from the best of my knowledge, from NNPC trading, they don’t import PMS anymore. But there is no official ban on importation. So private companies, they do import PMS, but if they import PMS, now that’s where competition comes in. If it is cheaper for you to get PMS locally than the ones you are importing, then at the end of the day, nobody will patronize you,” Osifo explained.
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