The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has clarified that fuel pricing decisions are beyond its operational mandate, focusing instead on securing consistent product supply, particularly from the Dangote Refinery.
In an interview on Arise Television, PETROAN President Billy Gillis-Harry emphasized that the association’s primary objective is ensuring petroleum product availability across the country. He reported that members have successfully accessed supplies from the Dangote Refinery without reported disruptions, a critical development for Nigeria’s retail sector. “We are focused mostly on ensuring that petroleum product availability is top on our agenda, and we are getting that product from Dangote Refinery. So far, we haven’t gotten any disappointment as to getting products from there,” Gillis-Harry stated.
However, he underscored that the association does not influence retail pricing. The president identified escalating global crude oil costs—the primary feedstock for refining—as the fundamental driver behind price dynamics. “The pricing is completely not within our purview, because first, you already can tell that the price of restocking of crude oil that is the feedstock for the refining of refined products is just going up the roof, and that is a major concern,” he explained.
Gillis-Harry expressed a collective need to explore measures to mitigate the impact on Nigerian consumers, stating, “we might need to find other ways of how we can try to ensure that Nigerians do not get under the water.” This comment highlights the retail sector’s awareness of affordability pressures despite improved local supply.
This statement comes amidst ongoing national discourse on fuel costs following the commencement of operations at the Dangote Refinery, a 650,000 barrels-per-day facility expected to significantly reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products. PETROAN, representing thousands of retail outlets, positions itself as a key stakeholder in the distribution chain but draws a clear line between supply logistics and pricing mechanisms, which are influenced by global oil markets, government fiscal policies, and exchange rates.
The association’s stance reinforces the complex interplay between local refining capacity, import dependency, and final consumer prices in Nigeria’s fuel sector. While enhanced domestic production aims to stabilize supply, the transmission of international crude price volatility to domestic pump prices remains a central economic challenge. Gillis-Harry’s comments suggest that retail operators view their role as managing distribution efficiency while acknowledging that broader macroeconomic and external factors dictate the final cost to consumers.
