Fuel scarcity: Marketers give conditions to sell petrol at N145

Oil marketers have said that the cost of petrol in the pricing template that is currently being reviewed will be determined by foreign exchange.

The marketers said they will only import petrol if the rate of forex is suitable enough to encourage the importation of the commodity.

The Nigerian Government had on Friday announced that it had commenced a review of the pricing template for petrol and insisted that the commodity would sell at N145 per litre.

The marketers, however, said on Saturday that the Federal Government could retain the cost of petrol at N145/litre after reviewing the pricing template, but listed the conditions that will make this feasible for importers.

Speaking with Punch newspaper, the National Vice President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, said that it was possible to review the pricing template for PMS and retain the cost of the commodity at N145/litre.

He said, “Yes, anything government says it wants to do on this issue can be considered possible because the minister had already outlined three conditions.

“The first condition has to do with regulation and the next is for the NNPC to sell at a given rate to marketers who will now add their margins, while the third is through forex (foreign exchange).

“So if the government can give forex to marketers, then automatically marketers can be able to sell at the rate of N145/ litre.

“So whether the template is reviewed or not, one major factor is the issue of forex. Currently, the dollar is about N365 and if the government can make it available to marketers at a rate of about N250, then marketers will be able to sell the product at the rate of N145/litre when they import.

“We hope that in the next 18 months our refineries will be in order, because that is what the minister said recently and he (Kachikwu) also said we are expecting other refineries to come on stream , like the Dangote refinery, as well as other modular refineries.

“But the truth is that as it is now , marketers cannot import petrol because of the cost of the commodity in the international market and the high forex rate.

“So we are expecting government to tell which of the listed conditions it will adopt so that this fuel crisis will end once and for all.”