The controversy surrounding the pricing of petrol has spilled over to the newly rehabilitated Port Harcourt refinery in Nigeria, with independent marketers refusing to purchase the product at a high price. This development comes on the heels of a similar issue with Dangote's refinery, highlighting the ongoing struggle between marketers and refinery operators in the country.

According to reports, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is seeking to sell petrol from the Port Harcourt refinery at a price of N1,030 per liter, which is almost N60 more expensive than the Dangote Petroleum Refinery's gasoline. The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has expressed its dissatisfaction with the proposed price, stating that it will not purchase petrol from the facility at such a high cost.

IPMAN's spokesperson, Chinedu Ukadike, emphasized that the association does not expect the government-owned refinery to sell petrol at the same price as the privately owned Dangote refinery, let alone at a higher price. "If the Port Harcourt refinery's PMS price is truly N1,030, it is unacceptable to us independent marketers. We will not buy from them. We will buy where it is cheap," Ukadike stated.

The NNPCL has denied the expensive price, opting to withhold information on how much it intends to sell petrol to marketers at this time. However, Ukadike expressed optimism that the NNPCL would review the price, saying, "They promised to review the price. We will wait till then, but now we will buy from where it is cheaper."

The Port Harcourt refinery, which is Nigeria's oldest, has been operational since 1965 and is located in the oil-rich Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The facility had been dormant for over a decade before the Nigerian government obtained a $1.5 billion loan in March 2021 to upgrade and modernize the refinery. The rehabilitation of this refinery has sparked conversations over how competition between functioning refineries might ensure that gasoline costs in Nigeria are reduced, which has been largely responsible for inflating the high cost of living in the country.

Despite the controversy, the NNPCL has announced that it is yet to start distributing PMS from the Port Harcourt refinery to outsiders, with products currently only available through its retail outlets. The refinery's Managing Director, Ibrahim Onoja, and the Executive Director of Operations, Nigerian Pipeline and Storage Company Limited, Moyi Maidunama, claimed that the facility is operational, albeit with scaled-down operations to make necessary improvements.

The situation highlights the ongoing challenges in Nigeria's energy sector, where pricing disputes and refinery operations have significant implications for the country's economy and citizens. As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how the NNPCL and IPMAN will resolve their differences and what impact this will have on the broader energy landscape in Nigeria.