The Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria has raised concern following the lack of petroleum products caused by foreign exchange rate volatility, as the landing cost of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, has reportedly increased to seven hundred and twenty naira per litre.
Petroleum products’ dealers also lamented that filling stations were shutting down daily in large numbers, as it was becoming increasingly tough to run the business. They added that this could lead to widespread fuel scarcity in coming months.
Punch further gathered that the landing cost of Premium Motor Spirit into Nigeria had increased to seven hundred and twenty naira per litre to six hundred and fifty-one naira per litre in August 2023.
Speaking at the National Executive Council meeting of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria, in Abuja on Thursday, the National President of the Natural Gas Suppliers, Benneth Korie, said a lot of depots were presently dried up or out of stock.
He 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.”
Korie said the government must therefore urgently come to the aid of the industry as quickly as possible to save it from an impending colossal collapse, which would result in a more devastating blow to the economy at large.
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