LAGOS — THE Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has warned marketers over sharp practices regarding fuel pricing, while shutting down some Conoil Plc and African Petroleum Plc retail outlets in Lagos. The stations where shut down for using under-dispensing pumps to sell petrol to unsuspecting consumers as well as selling above stipulated prices.
The monitoring and inspection team of DPR led by the Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Mrs Belema Osibodu, Tuesday during the department’s routine inspection and monitoring disclosed that the price ceiling for marketers in Lagos was N52 per litre for petrol.
According to her, the agreement reached between the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and marketers is that petrol should be sold at N52 per litre in the coastal areas and N54 per litre inland, such as Northern and Eastern Nigeria. She directed marketers in Lagos not to sell above N52 per litre, warning that henceforth filling stations that violate the agreed control price will be sealed.
“We are monitoring to ensure that the various retail outlets are selling at the control price because some marketers are selling at N52 per litre and some others are selling at N53 per litre. We just want to warn all marketers in Lagos that they should sell at N52 per litre while those in the North should sell N54 per lire. We want to ensure that the marketers are not profiteering at the expense of the Nigerian public,” she said.
During the inspection, Conoil filling stations at Jibowu-Yaba and Onipanu in Ikorodu Road and AP filling station at Onipanu were found to be under-dispensing at a shortfall of between .34 and .78 litre or N12 and N42 for every 10 litres of petrol sold.
Mobil and Total filling stations inspected were selling petrol at N53 per litre but their dispensing machines were between 98.5 and 99.5 percent accurate. The stations were however, not sealed because the differences were considered insignificant but the station managers were asked to re-adjust the pumps correctly before end of today.
The DPR officials also said that because AGO (diesel) and DPK (kerosene) have been fully deregulated, it cannot determine the pricing for the marketers but assured that it should not allow the marketers that profiteer in the products. The sealed stations will not be reopened until they readjust their pumps appropriately.
