Key players in the country’s downstream sub-sector of the oil and gas industry have kicked against some aspects of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) with regards to the subsidy removal.
The marketers are seeking access to foreign exchange at a rate that will be friendly to their bottom-line. They also express concern over what they described as a haphazard implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), with regard to the withdrawal of petrol subsidy.
They accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of tactically retaining monopoly of products importation to swing the market to its benefit.
To avert what may lead to another round of scarcity across the country, stakeholders in the industry are gathering in Abuja today, June 14 to engage the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA to seek proper interpretation of licence issuance with regard to product import.
An industry source, who spoke on conditions of anonymity said the situation may lead to marketers rejecting NNPCL products if government refuses to fully liberate the market.
He said that “If the PIA seeks to fully deregulate the market, then it would be ready to allow competition and create a level playing field. What we are asking is that government should not allow NNPCL to access foreign exchange at official exchange rate and expect independent or major marketers to source forex from the parallel market.
“Again, the issuance of import licence should not be the responsibility of the NNPCL, but the NMDPRA, whose responsibility it is to create all the needed opportunities for the market to thrive,” he added.
He added that the emergency gathering in Abuja will determine where the market will swing in the next few days.
The source said if marketers are denied forex and they discover that NNPCL products are higher than what it is signifying, then they will have no option but to reject the products.
The implication would be scarcity which will defeat the aim of the Act.
A few days after his inauguration, President Bola Tinubu met with marketers in Abuja to discuss modalities for addressing challenges posed by the subsidy removal.
Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Mrs. Winifred Akpani, chairman of Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), said the courtesy visit was to express the major oil marketers’ utmost support to the federal government.
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Fuel Scarcity: Crisis Imminent as Petroleum Marketers Move to Challenge Aspects of Subsidy Removal