The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) have forecasted a slight decrease in the retail price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, following the anticipated commencement of operations at the Port Harcourt Refining Company next month.
Both IPMAN and MEMAN have expressed their eagerness to commence product loading from the refinery, emphasizing the need for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to deliver on its commitment to start distributing refined products from the Port Harcourt plant within the next two weeks.
The revival of the refinery’s operations was confirmed by Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of NNPCL, during a Senate Ad-hoc Committee session focused on investigating the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) projects of Nigeria’s refineries.
Kyari asserted that mechanical repairs at the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries have reached completion, with Port Harcourt set to go operational shortly and Kaduna expected to follow suit in December. 
This development is poised to inject a significant volume of domestically refined petrol into the Nigerian market, potentially easing the nation’s dependency on imported fuel and contributing to a marginal reduction in pump prices.
Kyari said last Friday, “We did a mechanical completion of the (Port Harcourt) refinery, that was what we said in December. We now have crude oil already stocked in the refinery. We are doing regulatory compliance tests that must happen in every refinery before you start it, and I assure you that this Port Harcourt refinery will start in the next two weeks.
“Completing the mechanical work means that you are done with the rehabilitation work, now you have to test to see how it works. Of course, we have also completed the mechanical work on the Warri refinery.
“It is also undergoing regulatory compliance; processes that we are doing with our regulator, and this will soon be completed and it will be ready. The Kaduna refinery will be ready by December. We have not reached that stage in Kaduna, but we promise Kaduna will be delivered by December.”
The National President of IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, in his reaction told Punch that marketers had been informed of the development and were ready to start lifting products.
He also stated that once products start coming out from the plant, the cost of petrol would reduce, but stressed that this would be a marginal reduction.
He said, “As independent petroleum marketers, immediately we received the information, we told all our members to start preparing for loading, especially those in the South-South region of the country, because it is closer to them.
“So at any time they (NNPCL) say we should come and start loading, we are ready. We are just waiting for them to start.”
He added, “Price reduction is obvious when they start releasing products, and there will be availability because it would serve as support to the imported products. So we are expecting a change in price, for no matter how small the reduction is, it is still a reduction.
“Also, the commencement of operations there will create more employment for Nigerians. So it is a welcome development and IPMAN is happy about this, especially if products start coming out from the plant in the next two weeks as promised by NNPCL.”
The Executive Secretary of MEMAN, Clement Isong, on his part, stated that major oil marketers had been buying products from the trading arm of NNPCL, adding that this arm of the national oil firm would be in charge of the products to come out from the Port Harcourt refinery.
He noted that though the facility would not be able to provide all the volumes of petrol required by the consumers, MEMAN would definitely load from the plant by buying refined products through the trading arm of NNPCL.
He said, “Sure, we have been buying from the trading arm of NNPCL and we will continue once products from the refinery are being released. On price reduction, this is going to be marginal, because the product is being produced in Nigeria.”
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