Oil marketers have said local refining will save at least N70 per litre off petrol prices when fully operational.
OsunDailyNG gathered that the National Controller Operations, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mike Osatuyi said local refining would reduce insurance costs, product delivery time and increase employment, therefore cutting costs off some related fees.
He told The Punch on Wednesday that it would benefit the Federal Government to invest in the refineries.
His statement follows President Bola Tinubu’s disclosure that the Port Harcourt refinery will be functional by December.
According to him, although the contracts for revamping refineries had been awarded, it would be a good development for repairs to be completed as soon as possible to ease the stress and huge finance of importation on the country.
He said, “The contract was already awarded before the new government entered office. IPMAN doesn’t know the context of the agreement, but if the refineries are working, it will cut freight and ship-to-ship transfer costs.
“Not less than N60/N70 per litre will be off if the refineries start working.
“Cost of insurance would reduce, and then if we keep importing, it takes about 30 days for ships to arrive in Nigeria, and we would have to pay for hiring the vessel.
“But if we refine in the country, products would arrive within one day. There will also be more jobs for the masses. It’s a lot of benefits.”
Speaking about local production, a former Chairman of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Chairman/Chief Executive of 11 Plc, Tunji Oyebanji, said marketers prefer local production to importation.
“We want local refineries to work because we don’t enjoy importing,” he said.
Nigeria still relied heavily on petrol importation due to a lack of functional local refineries
Since removing subsidies on May 29, petrol prices have shot up tremendously, rising from about N198/N200 per litre to N617 per litre.
Local consumption has since dropped by 30 per cent from 66 million litres per day recorded before subsidies removal.
