By Ken Afor
Nigerians may face another round of petroleum product scarcity if necessary measures are not taken to address the issue of forex price volatility.
This position was expressed by the petroleum products marketers who revealed that retail outlets are closing their doors due to rising operating costs.
At the National Executive Council meeting of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria, NOGASA, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, marketers criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s removal of subsidy on fuel, claiming that steps that should have been taken prior to the removal were not taken.
The marketers insisted that before the gasoline subsidy was eliminated, the nation’s refineries should have been in operation and any issues with foreign exchange should have been resolved.
On Tuesday, the naira lost more value as it traded between N1,005 and N1,025 to the dollar at the parallel market.
The inability of the federal government to stop the country’s illegal dollar trading was questioned by the marketers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Benneth Korie, president of the association, issued a dire warning that the country’s downstream was under severe strain as a result of the closure of stations due to difficult operating conditions.
He said, “Depot owners are so terribly affected by the increasing cost of the crude and exchange rate to the extent that many depots are practically deserted as their owners are unable to secure bank loans to fund their business due to high interest rates.
“Banks are not willing to guarantee funds release to stakeholders as a result of the difficulty, instability and galloping foreign exchange rate. Many depots are presently dried up or out of stock.
“Worst hit are filling stations whose owners find it extremely difficult to secure funds to procure products for their retail outlets and both the independent and major marketers are so terribly affected that as at today, filling stations are shutting down in great numbers on a daily basis and dealers are going out of business with many more on the verge of bankruptcy because of their inability to secure funds to facilitate orders for their stations”.
It would be recalled on Monday, the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari, said the company is now the sole importer of petrol because local private firms are unable to obtain foreign currency, four months after imports were opened up to private players in the country.
However, this raises questions about whether the NNPCL will be able to supply the necessary quantity
