Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigerian, IPMAN has reacted to the import license granted to some firms to import fuel into the country, saying the action has not helped in reducing the price of petroleum products in the country.
According to IPMAN Publicity Secretary, Chinedu Ukadika, the marketers have taken a cursory look at the challenges facing the nation’s downstream petroleum sector, and resolved that the issuance of import licenses has further worsen the problem of price volatility in the sector, urging the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA as the regulatory agency in the sector to take a second look at the issue again.
Ukadika stated that the issuance of import licences has not checkmated local petroleum refiners in the area of price, rather it has shot up the price, citing the landing cost of imported petroleum which stand at around N1,350 higher than N1070 that is being offered by local refiner, such as the Dangote Refinery
He explained that the federal government’s target of using importation to bolster quality and bring down price has not been achieved in spite of the license granted to the firms, urging the government to look for ways of helping domestic refineries, which he said have provided uninterrupted and continuous fuel supply in the country, to overcome the challenges facing them, adding that
“If we are having continuous and uninterrupted supply, our problem is pricing. Is it not better we sit down and see how this issue can be controlled, than signing unnecessary import licences that will further inflate the price of petroleum products in our country?” he said.
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