Fuel Scarcity: Marketers Open up on fuel price

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has warned that fuel cannot continue to sell at a pump price below N200.

Daily Trust reports that IPMAN’s national operations controller, Mike Osatuyi, said that the only realistic pump price for fuel should be pegged between N200 and N210 per litre.

He also noted that the pricing template of the Federal Government which fixed the pump price at N169 per litre is grossly unrealistic considering that the landing cost of the fuel at the station is N194 per litre.

His words:

“I buy petrol at N186.50k per litre from the depot and it costs me about N9.50k to get the same litre to the pump after paying levies. How do you want me to sell at N169 per litre when I have incurred additional costs?”

“No marketer can sell petrol at the regulated price of N169 per litre with the current realities when landing cost is N194 per litre.

“Those saddled with the responsibility of petroleum importation and pricing should be held responsible for the price disparities at the fuel stations.

“The current price of petrol does not reflect inflation, Foreign Exchange costs, union dues and transportation.”

Osatuyi expressed worry that there are logistics and other additional charges which were not factored into the current pricing template by the Nigerian government for fuel pump prices.

He also urged the FG to be open to the public on the petrol landing cost as well as move to adopting deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector as a solution to the challenges of the sale of fuel.

He added:

“Total deregulation remains the best solution to ending fuel scarcity.

“The cost implication of total deregulation will make the price of petrol too expensive for Nigerians, but it will shift the burden from the government to end users.”
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