By Seyi Babalola
President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, has clarified the controversy surrounding the Port Harcourt refinery’s operations.
Reacting to claims by some critics that the refinery is merely a blending plant, Gillis-Harry emphasized that blending is a standard practice in crude oil refining processes worldwide.
The Port Harcourt refinery, which resumed operations on tuesday, has been touted as a crucial step in reducing Nigeria’s reliance on fuel imports, adding that the “NNPC was very transparent when they clearly stated that there is a blending process within the ambit of the industry.”
In his words on Arise TV News Night: “I do not know any refinery in the world today that does not engage in blending. And why do you blend? You blend because of the volatility of different products.
“So, for the PMS, the volatility rate is very high, and there has to be some kind of blending that will enable the volatility to be stable. Otherwise, you will buy a gasoline of N10,000, and before you know it, it has evaporated.“
Clarifying the controversy surrounding the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the Port Harcourt Refinery being N75 higher than that of Dangote Refinery, he noted that the information was “quoted out of context.”
According to Gillis-Harry, PETROAN has not started loading products from the Port Harcourt Refinery due to the lack of approval, adding that the price comparison was based on the old template published by NNPC, which didn’t include pricing for the Port Harcourt Depot.
He emphasized that the conversation was centred around verifying if the refinery had produced PMS and if loading had commenced, not about pricing.
Adding, he maintained that the statement from the National Public Relations Officer about the price was referring to a previous purchase on the NNPC platform, unrelated to the Port Harcourt Refinery.
“We have not started loading products from there because there is no approval yet for PETROAN or anyone to be able to access products from that depot. So, the information that was passed about N75 more than Dangote refinery was quoted out of context.
“This is because the product we bought day before yesterday (Monday) and yesterday (Tuesday) was on the old template of what the NNPC has published earlier, and there was no price for the Port Harcourt Depot pricing because there was no applications approved. There was no reason to compute what the pricing would be.
“Also, pricing was not the conversation. The conversation was to see if the refinery had produced PMS and if loading had commenced, and it was done. So, the N75 conversation was taken out of context, and I can verify that as the national president of the organization.
“The National Public Relations Officer was only discussing the price we bought a few days before on the NNPC platform, and that has nothing to do with the Port Harcourt refinery. Therefore, I would like us to discountenance that conversation.”
While speaking on the approval timeline for pricing dynamics at the Port Harcourt refinery, the PETROAN president stated that “it is completely out of context to discuss pricing from the depot at this point.”
He shed some light on the processes involved, saying that to buy products from the NNPC, marketers need to be qualified, with an active license and presence on the NNPC platform.
He noted that once qualified, marketers make an application, and the NNPC automatically approves certain quantities of products for each retail outlet.
Gillis-Harry emphasized that none of these steps have been completed for the Port Harcourt depot, hence making discussions about the pricing premature, adding that PETROAN has proposed that the NNPC fast-track the process to benefit retail outlet owners.
“To buy product from the NNPC Ltd. entails a couple of things. First, you have to be qualified, which means you need to have a license that is currently active, and you should be on the platform of the NNPC. And while you are there, you need to also have what is called the off-taker permit from NMDPRA to take from that particular depot.
“Once you are qualified for that, you make an application, and NNPC, from what I know, automatically approves certain quantities of products for every retail outlet. And once you are given that, you are given a certain number of days to make the payment. It is only when that payment is done that the NNPC can then programme you to load the product.
