Oil Marketers notify FG on Planned Fuel price Increase, queues persist

Oil Marketers notify FG on Planned Fuel price Increase, queues persist

Oil marketers on Thursday said they had made their intentions for an increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, known to the Federal Government, as the current cost of the commodity was no longer sustainable.

In the same vein, PMS transporters confirmed that they had resumed operations in full following last week’s raise in the freight rate being paid by the Federal Government for the transportation of petrol nationwide.

Amidst the call for petrol price hike and the full resumption of operations by transporters, the queues by motorists for PMS in Abuja and neighbouring states grew longer on Thursday.

The Deputy National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Zarma Mustapha, told our correspondent that the Federal Government had been put on notice concerning oil marketers’ intentions to increase petrol price.

“The current pump price is no longer sustainable and we have made this know to the government. However, we must acknowledge the efforts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in ensuring product availability,” he stated.

Also, the National President, Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association, Bennett Korie, said Nigerians would have to adjust to the current reality, as it was no more feasible to dispense petrol at the approved rate of N165/litre in filling stations after purchasing the product for about N170/litre in some private depots.

“So everybody is suffering and the only way out is for Nigerians to take or accept a little increase in petrol price. This will also ensure that the foreign exchange spent on petrol subsidy is reduced for us to have forex for diesel imports too.

“If not our construction companies, industries, hotels, etc, will all come to a stand still because they will not be able to buy diesel. You use diesel to get fuel to fillings stations, you use it to run the generators of various businesses in Nigeria because there is no light across the country. So this is the only way out.”

Asked whether marketers had informed the government about these concerns, Korie replied, “Of course, we’ve reached out to them about this. And the response is still the same problem that we are facing – petrol.

“You can’t buy petrol at a high price and sell this low. Crude oil is about $130/barrel, the cost of fuel, if you hear it, you will run away; but you are selling at N165/litre. So definitely you don’t expect money to remain for government to run other activities when it spends heavily on subsidy.”

Last week, the President, Muhammadu Buhari approved an increase in the freight rate being paid to transporters of petroleum products in a bid to clear the persistent fuel queues by motorists in parts of the country.

Oil marketers had repeatedly complained that the lingering fuel queues in Abuja and neighbouring Nasarawa and Niger states, among others, were due to the inability of petroleum product transporters to purchase the diesel required to run their trucks.

This, they said, was due to the hike in the pump price of diesel, which was currently dispensed at about N850/litre.