Port Harcourt refinery will begin loading of petroleum products to marketers and retailers this week, the  Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETORAN) has said.

Joseph Obele, the spokesperson for the association on Sunday, January 5, said since the Port Harcourt refinery began operations in November 2024, it has only supplied fuel to retailers managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Obele said products purchased by marketers from state-owned companies were imported despite the fact that marketers were loading fuel from the NNPCL.

He also decried the fact that retailers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State are selling fuel at N970 per litre instead of N899 currently sold to Lagos consumers..

“NNPC is still telling us to buy at a rate different from the rate they are selling to Lagos at the moment because of logistics. So, Port Harcourt retail outlet owners are not really comfortable with that. Hence, the Port Harcourt refinery will start servicing us this week.

“We are also requesting that the same rate NNPC is selling to our members at Lagos should be the rate they will be selling to us over here in Port Harcourt too. We are not really comfortable with that disparity,” he disclosed.

He further pleaded with the leadership of the NNPCL to ensure that the price of fuel in Port Harcourt be either reduced or even sold at the same price which Lagos end users are paying for.