The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has said the commencement of direct sales of Dangote’s Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) to its members will crash the price of fuel in the country in the coming days.

The National Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, James Tor, disclosed this on Monday.

His statement comes after IPMAN National President, Abubakar Maigandi, announced on Monday that Dangote Refinery has agreed to sell petrol directly to his members.

The agreement between IPMAN and the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery brings an end to the middleman posture played by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on the inaugural lifting of Dangote Petrol on September 16, 2024.

Similarly, the direct sale agreement means that petrol marketers have dumped imported fuel for Dangote petrol.

Speaking on the impact of the direct purchase agreement between IPMAN and Dangote Refinery, Tor explained that Nigerians will experience a drastic reduction in the price of petrol and a boost in the products’ availability nationwide.

According to him, the agreement would make the pump price of petrol at Independent marketers’ retail outlets drop below N1,150 per litre.

“If the business agreement kicks off, you will see a drastic reduction in the price of gasoline.

“For obvious reasons, it will lead to easy availability of the product and price factor.

We are the major stakeholders who have filling stations across the country.

“The price of petrol in our filling station will go much below N1,150 in our retail outlets depending on what Dangote Refinery agreed to give to us,” he said.

The spokesperson of Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, confirmed that IPMAN and Dangote Refinery have agreed on the direct sale of PMS.

Recall that petroleum marketers had in the last weeks sought the partnership of Dangote Refinery on direct sale of PMS.

This comes after the Nigerian government announced that NNPCL will no longer be the sole off-taker of Dangote Petrol, which is part of the implementation of the Naira-for-crude deal.

The Naira-for-crude implementation committee led by the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, on October 11, 2024, permitted petrol marketers to lift Dangote Petrol.

Meanwhile, the latest agreement between IPMAN and Dangote Refinery on direct petrol sale has brought an end to the controversy between oil marketers and Dangote Refinery over fuel price in the last few days.

Dangote Refinery last week revealed that its gasoline is sold at N960 and N990 per litre for ships and trucks.

Earlier, IPMAN had insisted that imported fuel is cheaper than Dangote’s petrol.

According to report, petrol landing cost dropped to N971 per litre in November 2024, according to the Major Energies Marketers Association.

Despite this, Nigerians buy petrol between N1,060 and N1,200 across filling stations in the country.

However, with the IPMAN and Dangote Refinery direct PMS sale agreement, Nigerians are likely to buy the product within N1060 per litre price or below.

Meanwhile, the details of the petrol pricing agreed upon between IPMAN and Dangote Refinery will determine the price of the product in the coming days.

Recall that in the last two months, the price of petrol had doubled to between N1060 and N1,200 from N617 per litre traded in August 2024.

The hike in energy costs directly affects Nigeria’s inflation, which stood at 32.70 percent in September 2024.