The inability of the marketers to source and distribute petrol without recourse to the national oil company, has again seen the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) emerging as the sole importer and source of petrol nationwide.
Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday lamented that the forex situation and the structural imbalance in the pricing regime were frustrating their full participation in the downstream oil sector, contrary to the ideals of full deregulation.
IPMAN’s National Vice President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria Abubakar Maigandi, said the marketers abandoned the petrol importation business due to lack of access to foreign exchange at the banks.
Maigandi said: “I don’t know about major marketers not having petrol in their depots. The only thing I know is that the rate of loading has reduced. The way we used to load there is now reducing. From the loading point, NNPCL refused to give us allocation. They have reduced the way they had been given allocation to marketers.
“Up till now, only NNPCL can come with the PMS, marketers cannot buy the PMS because of the price and foreign exchange.
“Most of the marketers are not getting the foreign exchange from the banks. So everybody relies on the product that NNPCL imports and shares to the marketers.”
