Business
Fuel Scarcity: N165/litre of petrol retail price no longer realistic – Marketers
Major oil marketers under the aegis of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) have said the fixed retail price of N165 per litre for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as fuel, is no longer realistic.
The marketers made the disclosure in a statement on Wednesday, amid persistent fuel scarcity in the country.
Chairman of MOMAN, Mr Olumide Adeosun, according to the statement, made this known during a virtual consumer protection workshop for Oil Marketers by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).
Adeosun, who was reacting to the lingering fuel scarcity across the country, attributed the situation to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine which had disrupted global energy supply.
The MOMAN chairman likened the current situation to the COVID-19 pandemic era with some countries moving to halt the exportation of petrol in favour of their own national energy securities.
He insisted that it would be difficult to enforce any kind of price control mechanism on oil marketers who were forced to slightly adjust their prices to reflect the current cost of purchasing the product from the depots.
Adeosun, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Ardova Plc advised a phased deregulation of petrol by the Federal Government to reduce the shock on consumers as a way forward from the present challenges.
He said the gradual price deregulation should be followed with targeted palliatives in the areas of transportation and agricultural subsidies to the public to ease implementation.
According to him, the huge amount spent on petrol subsidy over the years would have been deployed to other critical areas that could have reduced the impact of the current energy crisis on Nigerians.
He said as the nation was moving towards full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector, MOMAN would continue to collaborate with the FCCPC to ensure the protection of the rights of consumers.
