Marketers kick against PIB’s restriction of petrol import to refinery owners

Oil marketers have kicked against the restriction of licence to import petroleum products to only owners of refineries as contained in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
The Bill was passed by the Senate on July 1.
The oil marketers said in a statement issued in Lagos that the insertion of the clause in the Bill would create a monopoly that would exploit ordinary Nigerians.
The statement was signed jointly by Mr Olufemi Adewole, Executive Secretary, Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMAN) and Mr Clement Isong, Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN).
Section 317(8) in the Senate’s version of the Bill states that licence to import any product shortfalls shall be assigned only to companies with active local refining licences.
The import volume shall be allocated between participants based on their respective production in the preceding quarter.
The two associations noted in the statement that the restriction extended to products like diesel, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas and base oils that had long been deregulated.
They also noted, however, that “as industry stakeholders and professionals with heavy investments in the downstream sector, we welcome the entry and participation of local refineries.

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