A new deal struck last week between the Dangote Refinery and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria IPMAN representing many of the small players at the pumps aims to bring down the price of petrol emerging from the plant.
But the head of one of Nigerias biggest petrol station owners says the deal - under which the refinery will provide around 240 million litres of petrol monthly to IPMANs members - is unlikely to significantly help Nigerians who have been suffering since the removal of fuel subsidies earlier this year. Before the removal, fuel was around 200 naira per litre 0.12 - it is now pushing 1000 naira at the pump.
Honestly, I dont think it is going to make much difference in price, says Abiola Lawal, the CEO of energy company Eterna.
They marketers still need to pay for taking the product from the Dangote Refinery over the last mile, so the transportation cost must feature, he argues.
Eterna has a separate deal to buy refined products from the new refinery and is not covered by the IPMAN deal. Eterna employs 1,000 workers supplying its 85 petrol stations across 21 states in Nigeria by contrast, many of the companies represented by IPMAN own only one or two petrol stations.
