Oil marketers: Petrol Price Should be Reviewed Regularly
Oil marketers: Petrol Price Should be Reviewed Regularly
According to reports from Punch, the Major
Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria has said the pricing template for Premium
Motor Spirit should be reviewed regularly to ensure that the price of the
commodity reflects the reality on the ground.
The PUNCH had reported last week that the
landing cost of the PMS being imported into the country had risen to at least
N205 per litre on the back of the recent increase in global oil prices, putting
more pressure on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The Chairman, MOMAN and Managing
Director, MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, Mr. Andrew Gbodume, said the nation’s current
business model for the distribution of petroleum products was unsustainable.
Gbodume, who stated this on Monday at
a press briefing, commended the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, a
subsidiary of the NNPC, for its efforts over the last few months in ensuring
consistent supply of petroleum products within the country.
He stated, “The PPMC has demonstrated
its resolve in guaranteeing a non-reoccurrence of the scarcity the nation
experiences at the end of 2017 and quite frankly has done well so far.
“However, the NNPC, being the sole
importer and supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria at the cost incurred, it
should be clear to all Nigerians that this policy direction is not
sustainable.”
According to MOMAN, the path to fully
achieve a sustainable operating environment for the Nigerian petroleum industry
begins with the downstream private sector.
“We feel the time is now to encourage
a well-informed and honest debate among ourselves as Nigerians on our
downstream pricing policy, showing sensitivity to the fears of Nigerians and
the challenges we face as a people and as an economy to arrive at an equitable
but sustainable business model,” Gbodume said.
On the pricing of petroleum products,
he added, “We have a template and we are expected to follow the template. But
what we should be looking at is a situation whereby the template is regularly
visited, because we know that as of the time the template was worked upon and
we had a price of N145, the price we are buying crude and petroleum products is
not the same.
“So, we should look at a situation
whereby the template will be visited regularly, maybe every month or every
quarter, to ensure that the price we have has to do with the reality on the
ground.
“When
we get to start looking at that, the issue of whether there is subsidy or not
will come into play, because today, nobody can categorically say that this is
the subsidy that is on fuel because we are not importing; it is only the
government that is importing. So, it is only the government that can actually
tell you that this is the actual price.”
The Petroleum
Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, in its Downstream Monitor for January to
April 2018, noted that petrol price had continued to rise at the international
market, pushing the expected open market price in the country far beyond the
recommended pump price of N145/litre.
According to
Gbodume, one of the major challenges the Nigerian downstream petroleum sector
is still facing is the non-payment of the long outstanding fuel subsidy to oil
marketers.
“We
appreciate the efforts of the National Assembly, but the non-payment creates a
significantly negative impact on the operational efficiency of the downstream
sector of the oil industry, thereby placing a severe strain on its efforts to
continually invest in infrastructure and raise industry standards. We hope that
the debts will be paid in full to the oil marketers as soon as possible,” he
added.
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