Association blames kerosene, diesel scarcity on forex shortage
NAN-HE-20
Kerosene
By Yunus Yusuf
Lagos, Jan. 10, 2017 (NAN) The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMAN), has attributed the scarcity and hike in prices of kerosene and diesel products to the shortage of foreign exchange.
The Executive Secretary of DAPPMAN, Mr Olufemi Adewole, made the disclosure in Lagos on Tuesday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) against the current scarcity of kerosene in the country.
According to him, the primary challenge on the lingering kerosene scarcity is basically on foreign exchange.
“There is shortage of foreign exchange for marketers to import the petroleum products and kerosene is usually scarce and expensive during winter period abroad.
“The winter period also contributed to the challenge because, prices of petroleum products usually rise during this period.
“There is higher demand for petroleum products outside the country than in Nigeria.
“It is well known in the international oil industry that during winter, that there are more concentration on some particular products and it is usually very expensive to import such products,’’ Adewole said.
The DAPPMA scribe, therefore, urged the Federal Government to provide adequate foreign exchange to marketers to enable them import and increase supply, adding that the development would lead to reduction in the prices of petroleum products.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) fixed the official price for kerosene at N83 per litre.
Contributing, Mr Mike Osatuyi, National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Manufacturers of Nigeria (IPMAN), said that members of IPMAN lacked foreign exchange to import kerosene and diesel.
Osatuyi said that IPMAN relied solely on the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for supply.
The operations controller called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to take a second look on its policy on foreign exchange and urged the Federal Government to fully deregulate petroleum products.
“The issue is that, it is not available, Secondly, most of our refineries are not loading it now. Even if they load, they will be selling it at exorbitant rate to marketers.
“Members cannot import because of forex and besides, kerosene is not fully deregulated.
“ It is not like diesel. Kerosene and petrol are not fully deregulated,” he said.
NAN correspondent, who monitored the situation within Lagos metropolis, reports that many residents condemned the sudden increase in the price of kerosene.
A check by NAN revealed that a litre of kerosene at Oyingbo was sold at N300 per litre, while at Alade in Shomolu, it sold at N280 per litre.
Mrs Bilikis Ariyo, a teacher, regretted the hardship faced by poor masses as a result of the price increase of kerosene.
“The masses that use kerosene have always been subjected to hardship and difficulty from time immemorial.
“When government placed the price of Kerosene at N50, we were buying at between N120 and N180 per litre.
“Now that government increased it to N83 per litre, we have been buying above that price; now there is acute shortage in supply, we buy at N300 per litre,’’ she said.
NAN reports that Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC said that the corporation had been importing kerosene and supplementing it with local production.
“ It operates in the downstream like other players,’’ he said (NAN)
YO/MNA/DUA
(Edited by Maureen Atuonwu)Edited by Dada Ahmed