Why We Can’t Import Petrol Now- Marketers

Oil marketers in the country have said they cannot import petrol now because of scarcity of foreign exchange.

The  Chairman of the Major  Oil Marketers Association of Nigerian(MOMAN) Adetunji Oyebanji. said this while reacting to reports that  the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), has just cleared qualified marketers to import petrol  into the country. 

Oyebanji said on Thursday that though the marketers were willing to import petrol, it was almost impossible as they had no access to foreign exchange (FX).

According to him,  the association is currently in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to access forex  to import products.

“We are engaging CBN on this and  hoping for a positive response but it indeed is an issue at the moment,” he said.

MOMAN also  clarified that marketers were never stopped from importing petrol  but rather the economics behind it then stopped them.

“We had always had the approval to import, the problem before now was that if we imported and the prices were  higher than the fixed selling price here in Nigeria, then we would be unable to sell. That was what the subsidy was about.” the MOMAN CEO, Cletus Isong, explained to THE WHISTLER on the telephone.

“So right now because the price is low in the market we can import but we are challenged by the access to foreign exchange, ” Isong added.

Oyebanji, who spoke on the impact of subsidy removal on marketers  during the Nigeria Petroleum Downstream Consultative Virtual Summit, said,“the greatest benefit of subsidy removal is to the country. More revenue will be available for the development of critical segments of the economy like health, education and infrastructure.:”

On  the issue of the  PPPRA still setting petrol  price monthly rather than allowing   market forces to determine the price  despite deregulation, Oyebanji stated that marketers were demanding  a change.

“There needs to be clarity on this backed by appropriate legislation.” he added.

Oyebanji added , “Today, people keep low stocks  towards month end because they fear price reduction.”

The conference hosted by   OTL Africa Downstream,had representatives of  the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria and Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, as participants.

The conference  addressed issues concerning  market deregulation including pricing, business models, competition, new investments and value-creation in the downstream petroleum Industry.

The  Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, recently  confirmed President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval of the price modulation template  that would allow flexible pricing of petrol based on market realities.