Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Mele Kyari recently addressed the misconception that the price of fuel would decrease with the commencement of local refinery production, including the newly inaugurated Dangote refinery. During an interview with Arise TV on June 1, Kyari emphasized that despite the increased volume of fuel products from refineries like Dangote Refinery and Port Harcourt Refining Company, the pump price of fuel would remain unaffected. Kyari confirmed that Dangote Refinery is scheduled to start operations by the end of July or early August, while the repairs for Port Harcourt Refinery are expected to be completed before the year ends, further contributing to domestic petrol production.
Kyari clarified, "There is a notion that if the product is processed locally, prices will reduce. Let me make it clear that it is not going to change anything. If you produce locally, the refineries will also input the cost of production and other things, and it will be sold at the current price. There will also be no subsidy when local production starts because there is no cash-to-back subsidy; this country no longer has the resources to continue with subsidy."
In another interview with Channels Television, Kyari reassured the public that fuel queues experienced across the country would not extend beyond Saturday, June 3. He stated, "I don't see it staying beyond another day or two, maximum. It can actually be on Saturday. We have supplies. The key trouble with the PMS system is supply, but I have supplies. There are over 810 million liters of PMS in depots, tanks, and fuel stations across the country, so you don't have the problem of transferring those from marine to land; you already have them on the ground."
Addressing the recent viral circulation of a PMS pricing document, Kyari explained, "You have seen a document in the space out there. Every company does this. It is a marketing document. It was not a price announcing document; every company keeps this record and adjusts it appropriately on the basis of changing conditions in the market. So what you saw was just an internal company document that found its way into the internet. It is an NNPC document but it was not intended to be an announcement and is not an announcement because it can change the next day."
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