Oil marketers groan over weak naira as NNPCL forecloses rise in pump price
BY MOTOLANI OSENI & TEMITOPE ADEBAYO
As landing cost of petrol soars and reports of possible partial return of subsidy heightens, the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has called for accelerated adoption of alternative energy sources, and cautioned against return of subsidy in any guise.
The association insisted that the short-term intervention must be targeted, affordable, well thought out, and time-bound, and should not negatively impact the Nigerian economy in the long run.
The MOMAN position is coming on reports that many petroleum products depots are currently deserted due to lack of products caused by foreign exchange rate volatility, as the landing cost of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, which has increased to N720/litre.
Petroleum products’ dealers also stated that filling stations were closing down as it was becoming increasingly tough to run the business which could lead to widespread fuel scarcity in coming months.
Speaking at the National Executive Council meeting of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria, in Abuja, the national president, NOGASA, Benneth Korie, said a lot of depots were presently dried up or out of stock.
However, chief executive officer(CEO) and executive secretary of MOMAN, Clement Isong, while speaking on ‘Energy Transition, PIA, Petroleum Pricing, and the Way Forward in the Downstream Sector’ at the Nigeria Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC) International Strategic Conference 2023 in Lagos, on Thursday, explained that, “Deregulations are meant to enable people and businesses.
“Therefore, there is a need for right decisions to be made based on resources available. When commodity pricing is right, this would serve as a confidence booster for the sector. If spending goes down, the industry should reduce its costs; people should consider the use of alternative energies available.”
He further revealed that petrol prices will continue to increase based on market dynamics and cost of crude oil. He added that increase in prices will force petroleum product consumers to be more efficient in energy usage and choices of fuel type.
Also, chief executive officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed that Federal Government’s commencement of moves to ensure drastic reduction in cost of crude oil production.
He said the commission is committed to ensuring significant reduction in cost of doing business in the upstream petroleum industry.
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“Following in-depth comparative analysis between Unit Operating Cost (UOC) in Nigeria and that obtainable in other climes, we have commenced the development of cost studies and benchmarks, to ensure improvement in cost efficiency of our upstream petroleum operations, in accordance with Section 8 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021(PIA),” he said.
Meanwhile, following speculations in the public domain about the plan to increase the pump price of petroleum, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Friday debunked the rumour, saying there was no intention to do so.
The oil company said this in a statement posted via its official X platform on Friday.
The NNPCL was reacting to speculations in the public domain about the company’s plan to raise petrol pump price from the current N617 per litre to above N700.
But in its reaction on Friday, the NNPCL said it has no intention to increase its petrol pump prices as widely speculated.
“Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPC Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated.
