Fuel Strike
Marketers Demand N300m Compensation
Raise petrol price to N42.90/ltr
By Mike Oduniyi in Lagos and Emmanuel Ugwu in Enugu
Major oil marketers have written the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) demanding for a total of N300 million compensation to effect a downward review in pump prices of fuel.
The marketers, however, raised petrol price yesterday to between N42.70 and N42.90 per litre up from N41.50 that prompted the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to suspend the nationwide strike and mass protest after three days of action.
THISDAY checks revealed that the oil majors namely Oando Plc, Conoil Plc, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Total Nigeria Plc, Texaco Nigeria Plc and Africa Petroleum Plc, wrote the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), an NNPC subsidiary, last Thursday demanding to be invoiced at the revised rate of N33.50 per litre of premium motor spirit (PMS) lifted before the June 9 strike.
The companies also requested that the PPMC underwrite the loss incurred on two PMS cargoes discharged at the Lagos Apapa depot prior to the strike.
It was gathered that the chief executives of the six companies met in Lagos at the weekend to appraise development in the sector following the three-day strike by workers, and the ruling by an Abuja Federal High Court, which ordered the Federal Government, the NNPC and marketers to revert to the status quo prevailing as at February 9, 2004.
"Collation of figures showed that each marketer lost N50 million, due to downward review of price as directed by the court," a source close to the meeting disclosed, adding that marketers had requested the PPMC to look into the issue.
Apparently with no response from the PPMC on their demand, THISDAY gathered that the oil majors decided last Friday to raise petrol price to the May 2004 levels. The pumps were adjusted accordingly yesterday.
While Conoil, Total and Texaco outlets raised their fuel price to N42.90 per litre, African Petroleum sold at N42.70 a litre while Oando adjusted its pump price to N42.80 per litre.
Diesel and kerosene prices remained unchanged at N51 and N48 per litre, respectively.
Officials of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) were not immediately available for comments on the new development.
While complying with the order of the Federal Court, the PPPRA had directed marketers to sell petrol at N41.50 a litre. The agency directed the NNPC to revert depot price of petrol to N33.50 from N38.50 and that the corporation should sell the fuel for N40.50 at its mega stations.
The PPPRA backed by the NNPC, ruled that the N41.50 a litre price was the prevailing price as at February 9, 2004.
Based on the compliance with the N41.50 price by some filling stations opened to business during the crisis period, the NLC announced it was suspending the strike, which paralysed socio-economic lives of most cities across the country between June 9 and 11.
The NLC President, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, had hinted over the weekend that workers and the civil society groups would not hesitate to resume the strike if the government or marketers failed to sustain the court order that fuel prices be reversed.
Reacting to the latest development, NLC deputy president, Dr. Joseph Akinlaja, told THISDAY yesterday that the state councils of the Congress and civil society groups in each area of the country, had been directed to go out today to monitor situations at the filling stations.
The report submitted after today's monitoring exercise, according to Akinlaja, would form the basis of a co-ordinated reaction from Labour.
"By tomorrow (today), we will have a response to the latest affront from marketers," said the NLC chieftain, adding that Oshiomhole was being expected in Lagos by last night to preside over the findings.
Most filling stations in Lagos still remained closed as at yesterday. The few that opened shop, had motorists desperate for fuel, forming long queues.
While marketers said their workers who are members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), were yet to resume from the suspended strike, motorists were of the view that dealers were reluctant to lower prices.
Marketers in Enugu and its environs for instance, refused to sell fuel following the enforcement of the court order by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
The DPR had on Friday clamped down on 14 filling stations that failed to adjust their prices to reflect the court order.
In what appeared to be a subtle protest against reversing the new price, many filling stations after adjusting their pumps have stopped selling fuel to the public, claiming that they had exhausted their supplies.
Some station managers, who spoke with our correspondent expressed dismay at the prospect of reverting to the old price of not selling above N45 per litre of petrol, saying that it would amount to "committing suicide in business."
"We have adjusted our pump prices to reflect the court order but we can't continue in this business in this way," said a station manager of a Texaco filling station in Enugu.
He stated that unless there was a deliberate official policy to "compensate marketers for their loss" in selling according to the court order, many of them would be discouraged from selling to the public.
Before the DPR swung into action on Friday marketers were selling fuel in the range of N50 and N53 per litre for major marketers while the independent marketers were selling at between N60 and N67 per litre.
Although the DPR had forced some filling stations to sell the products to the public after dipping their tanks and discovering that they were hoarding fuel, many of the marketers have closed their pumps feigning lack of fuel.
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