Three prominent oil marketers are anticipating the arrival of vessels carrying imported Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, this week, provided there are no unexpected developments, as reported on Tuesday.

Dealers indicated that approximately 141 million litres of PMS are en route to Nigeria, following the complete deregulation of the downstream oil sector by the Federal Government.

They also pointed out that the recent increase in petrol prices set by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and announced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Monday has created an opportunity for PMS imports.

Additionally, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has stated that all imported PMS will undergo at least three significant tests by the agency before being permitted for sale nationwide.

On Monday, NNPC revealed that petrol sourced from the Dangote refinery would be sold at prices exceeding N1,000 per litre in the northern regions.

Spokesperson Olufemi Soneye shared this information in a statement titled, ‘NNPC Ltd Releases Estimated Pump Prices of PMS from Dangote Refinery Based on September 2024 Pricing.’ Soneye noted that prices could reach as high as N1,019 per litre in Borno State and N999.22 in Abuja, Sokoto, Kano, and other locations.

In southern regions such as Oyo and Rivers, the price will be N960 per litre, while the lowest price, according to an infographic from NNPC, is N950 in Lagos and surrounding areas.

In response to this news on Tuesday, a major marketer confirmed that the deregulation of the downstream sector is now fully operational, emphasizing that three dealers are expecting their PMS shipments this week.

A marketer, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the issue, informed our correspondent that each ship is anticipated to deliver approximately 35,000 metric tonnes of PMS.

Consequently, the three dealers are projecting a total of around 105,000 metric tonnes of PMS for this week, assuming no unforeseen circumstances arise.

Based on the conversion rate of 1,341 litres per metric tonne, this indicates that the marketers are set to import roughly 141 million litres of petrol.

“Most marketers often import three parcels for this kind of transaction and the lowest parcel is about 35,000 metric tonnes of PMS. Now, because of how the business is run, you see marketers bringing in between two and three parcels.

“This week, we expect about three marketers to bring in products. However, some of these imports are not cast in stone, in the sense that the influence of many regulatory authorities is still there. So it is not that you will just go and bring in products and you then start to sell them.

“The regulators, such as the NMDPRA, have to look at the quality, flash points and so many other things that should be taken into consideration before the product comes in. And when it lands, they will take samples and check them in their labs,” the marketer stated.

With regard to the potential delivery of the three parcels for each of the marketers this week, the dealer provided a response, “All of them are not going to bring in the three parcels at the same time. They bring in a parcel first and later, say in one week time or so, another parcel comes in. All these imports have storage implications.

“It is not something you do in a day. You can’t bring in one vessel today (Tuesday) and you bring in another one on Saturday. No, it is not done like that. This is not the importation of 20,000 or 30,000 litres of PMS.”

Upon inquiry, the NMDPRA representative, George Ene-Ita, confirmed that marketers with authorized import licenses are permitted to import PMS. However, he emphasized that the products must undergo three critical tests conducted by the agency.

“The products must be subjected to our testing protocols at the ports. The products must conform to stipulated standards before we give them the authorisation to offload to their terminals.

“Also, before the smaller vessels bring it further inland to Nigeria our people will fly to the place to see the product and carryout some tests to ensure the right specification is upheld.

“Tests are also done at the products’ origins. And when the products come in, before they are released to the market, further tests would be conducted to ensure that they meet the specifications,” he stated.