| The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, IPMAN, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, has blamed private depot operators for causing price distortion in the downstream oil sector. He told Oriental News Nigeria, that except government intervenes the depot operators would continue to distort market operations blaming it on scarcity of foreign exchange. His response comes as Dame Winifred Akpani, the Chairman of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), blamed acute shortage of foreign exchange (forex) in the official market as pushing the naira to N860 against a Dollar. Akpani noted that in addition to core operational expenses that are denominated in dollars, petroleum marketers also contend with sourcing funds from the parallel market to pay for fees and levies, some unauthorized, that are also charged in dollars. Akpani criticized the lack of a level playing field that ensures all marketers have access to dollars at official prices and noted that having the NNPC as the only importer of PMS was unsustainable given the high demand for the product. According to Akpani, DAPPMAN believes the government’s plan to end subsidies in 2023 is the right choice because it will reposition the industry for sustainable growth and development and free up money to strengthen the capacity required to transform the health, education, defense, and transportation industry. Meanwhile, marketers have hinted of a possible pump price hike for Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also called petrol. Dr. Prince Billy Harry, President of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, has warned of another round of petrol price hike which may likely happen before Christmas. According to Harry, system inefficiency and a lack of foreign currency are set to result in dysfunctional market operations that would cause price distortion beyond the marketers’ control. Harry, said with exchange rate above N800 a dollar, the public should expect another round of hike in pump price of petrol except exchange rate is stabilized. According to him, landing cost of petrol to outlets is within the region of N184 to N189 per liter. This is coming amidst reports that fuel scarcity has persisted across Lagos and Ogun states, as some filling stations sell the commodity at N200 per litre. Nairametrics confirmed this after visits to some filling stations across the states. Based on findings, only a few NNPC filling stations are selling premium motor spirit (PMS) at N179 per litre. Many others have boldly adjusted their pump prices to either N190 per litre or N200 per litre. Besides the fact that PMS now sells at illegal prices, customers (especially the ones buying in containers) are forced to tip fuel pump attendants before they could be attended to. The FX scarcity has been fingered as possible cause of a potential hike in the price of petrol. This may also affect the prices of AGO/MGO in the near future. |
Source: Oriental News, Nairametrics
