Petrol marketers believe local refining will reduce PMS price by ₦‎70/litre

<p>President Bola Tinubu has already assured Nigerians that the Port Harcourt refinery will commence operations by December 2023.</p>, <span>Price of Petroleum increased astronomically in Nigeria after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared his government's position on fuel subsidy. GettyImages</span>, <h2>According to oil marketers, the current price of petrol will reduce by at least ₦‎70 when Nigeria’s refineries start functioning properly.</h2>, <p>Mike Osatuyi, the National Controller Operations of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said this in an interview with ThePunch on Wednesday, August 2, 2023.</p>, <p>Osatuyi, who spoke extensively on the benefits of functional local refineries said the Federal Government has awarded contracts to revamp the refineries.</p>, <p>He said he hoped the repairs would be completed as soon as possible to ease the stress of finance of importation on the country.</p>, <p>“The contract has been awarded already before the new government came into office. IPMAN doesn’t know the context of the contract, but if the refineries are working, it would cut freight and ship-to-ship transfer costs.</p>, <p>“Not less than N60/N70 per litre will be off if the refineries start working,” he said.</p>, <p>Other benefits of functional local refining according to Osatuyi include a reduction in insurance costs, a reduction in product delivery time, and an increase in employment.</p>, <p>“Cost of insurance would reduce, and then if we keep importing, it takes about 30 days for ships to arrive in Nigeria and we would have to pay for hiring the vessel.</p>, <p>“But if we refine in the country, products would arrive within one day. There will also be more jobs for the masses. It’s a lot of benefits,” he explained.</p>, <img src="https://cdn-fmcrawler.shalltry.com/public/prod/files/images/2023-08-04/original/3af05df6-520d-4524-9a7e-9e941b3ca8e3.jpg">, <span>President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Presidency</span>, <p>Meanwhile, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured Nigerians that t