Nigeria’s major oil marketers have significantly profited from the recent government decision to eliminate subsidies on petroleum products, allowing them to operate in a more market-driven environment. In the first nine months of 2024, four prominent oil marketers reported a total revenue of N1.3 trillion from petroleum sales.
Despite the high costs associated with fuel imports, these firms spent N833.86 billion on importing petroleum products during this period, leading to a gross profit of N465.92 billion from petrol sales. This data was disclosed in the companies’ financial statements listed on the Nigerian Exchange.
The four companies involved are Total Energies Marketing Nigeria, MRS Oil Nigeria, Eterna Plc, and Conoil Plc. They experienced over 100% year-on-year growth in net profits during this period, a direct result of subsidy removal initiated in May 2023. Following this policy change, petrol prices rose sharply, fluctuating between N200 per litre in May 2023 and exceeding N1,060 per litre by November 2024.
In detail, the companies reported a cumulative profit after tax of N45.3 billion, marking a significant 146% increase from N18.5 billion during the same period in 2023. A breakdown of the results revealed that fuel import expenses surged by 99.4%, increasing from N418.1 billion in 2023 to N833.86 billion in 2024.
Total Energies Marketing Nigeria topped the import spending with N234.68 billion in the first nine months of 2024, up 84.95% from N126.88 billion in 2023. Its revenue soared to N634.1 billion, compared to N326.38 billion the previous year, resulting in a gross profit of N399.4 billion—an increase of 100.21% from N199.49 billion in 2023.
Conoil Plc followed, spending N220.53 billion on fuel imports, with revenue climbing to N244.53 billion, reflecting an 82.96% increase from N133.65 billion in 2023. Its gross profit rose by 45.27%.
Eterna Plc spent N179.51 billion and generated revenue of N203.18 billion in 2024, compared to N98.49 billion in imports and N109 billion in revenue in 2023, marking a gross profit increase of 125.21%.
MRS Oil Company reported an import cost of N199.14 billion and revenue of N217.98 billion, compared to N75.58 billion and N86.17 billion in 2023, respectively, indicating a 77.9% gross profit increase.
The oil firms noted that their average monthly revenue has surged by about 200% compared to pre-deregulation levels. They reported improved sales volume in the last quarter of the year but acknowledged that the deregulation policy significantly impacted their working capital, increasing it by over 180% and raising finance costs for product purchases.
Despite these gains, several manufacturers, including Dangote Cement and BUA Foods, reported losses due to rising energy costs. They collectively spent N550.36 billion on fuel purchases, up from N267.44 billion in the same period last year.
Additionally, the marketers revealed that the Federal Government owes them N36.56 billion in bridging claims, which reimburse transportation costs for distributing petroleum products to retail stations. Total Energies is owed N22.68 billion, Conoil N4.58 billion, Eterna N1.93 billion, and MRS Oil N7.38 billion.
