No plan to increase the current pump price of Premium Motor Spirit also known as petrol, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC Limited.
The company made the clarification following the suggestion that a new price hike was imminent due to the rising price of crude oil and the scarcity of the dollar.
Some petroleum markers, had, on Wednesday said the current price of N620 per litre is no longer sustainable under the present situation, claiming that the landing cost of the product has gone as high as N720 per litre.
The marketers under the aegis of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria, NOGASA, said some filling stations are being shut down due to the shortage of the product, pleading with the government to intervene
NNPC however denied planning a new price hike, in a statement published on X on Friday.
The terse statement said, “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.”
Since President Bola Tinubu assumed office on May 29, declaring that “fuel subsidy is gone“, the NNPC has increased its prices at least twice, now costing three times the cost at the time: below N200 per litre.
Speaking at the National Executive Council, NEC, meeting of NOGASA, yesterday, its president, Benneth Korie, said a lot of depots were running out of stock.
He also lamented commercial banks’ refusal to give out loans to marketers to purchase the product.
Korie said, “Depot owners are so terribly affected by the increasing cost of crude oil 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 rates of foreign exchange and high cost of the dollar. Many depots are presently dried up or out of stock, and this is no gainsaying as it is evidently verifiable.”
He explained further that, “Worst hit are filling stations whose owners find it extremely difficult to secure funds to procure products for their retail outlets. Both the independent and major marketers are so terribly affected.
“As of 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.”
The magazine observed that some petrol stations have shut down in Lagos due to the non-availability of the product. Some marketers who spoke said Nigerians should brace up for scarcity ahead the festive period id nothing is done quickly by the government.
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