Indications are rife that official price of petrol would rise above N200 a liter following a N500,000 Ship-to-Ship Coordination Charge for each transshipment operation for petrol, introduced by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNpC, has introduced for involving its Marine Logistics.
Oriental News Nigeria authoritatively reports that the charge on any transshipment operation was part of moves by the NNPC to fully recover its operational cost since the recently passed Petroleum Industry Act had made the national oil firm a limited liability company.
A memo from NNPC Limited with Ref. NNPC/ML/STS01, dated 18the February, 2022 and addressed to all marketers with the heading, “Payment Of STS Coordination Charge” signed by O.I O Ajilo on behalf of GGM Shipping, reads.
Please be informed that the NNPC Management has directed that effective 10th February 2022, the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira, (N500,000.00) only will be charged for STS Coordination fee for each transshipment operation involving NNPC Marine Logistics.
Thisamount is to cover manpower and logistics required for coordination and production of cargo documents for the transshipment operations.
A remita payment request will be generated by our accounts section for each operation to effect necessary payment upon the vessels tendering notice of Readiness, NOR.
An industry source stated that the process of treating the off-spec PMS is on-going as advised by chemists and analytical laboratories; sludge extracts are being processed and disposed off without any harm to the environment.
She said that the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, PPMC brings in cargoes for above process and for distribution to the buying public but they need to do much more.
Meanwhile, a top industry player noted that a point of serious concern to marketers is that while NNPC Limited and it’s business units, which are also ‘Limited’ are recovering all their costs by passing same to marketers, there is no approval for marketers to pass these costs to the pump buyer but marketers cannot absorb these costs.
“For instance, a newly introduced cost is the bill of N500k imposed on marketers by NNPC for the ‘daughter vessel’ Bill of Lading / co-ordination fee!!!
“Prior to now, marketers charter NNPC vessels and pay in Naira however we are now forced to source US dollars to pay for the charter of NNPC vessels; this is separate from the costs of fenders and other ancillary costs now separated from vessel charter cost which marketers now bear but which we have no approval to pass on to the pump.
“NMDPRA and NNPC have both stated the FG’s reluctance to review pump price but since they have passed them to marketers, the latter will reflect it either ex-depot or at the pumps.
“Marketers are business owners who mostly operate on bank loans and we too must recover all costs.” the source said.
SOURCE: OperaNews
