Marketers of petroleum products have stated that the loading of fuel has been put on hold at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery following the facility’s decision to sell fuel in dollars.
Many marketers told The PUNCH on Sunday that the facility was not even loading its trucks, sparking fear of possible fuel tightness across the country. But the refinery denied the claim, arguing that fuel loading was ongoing within the Lekki-based plant.
Petroleum marketers said they suspended large-scale fuel loading in the last few days as they await clarity on the new pricing template being adopted by the refinery. They also await the cost of newly imported petroleum products.
The development heightened uncertainty in the downstream petroleum sector, with marketers wary of buying large volumes of petrol at the prevailing prices only to see the cost of the product fall shortly after.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, in a telephone interview on Sunday, said marketers were being forced to adopt a cautious approach because of the uncertainty surrounding the next price of petrol.
