The major downstream marketers under the aegis of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MEMAN), have said that the country’s petroleum products distribution and supply chain may face more challenging complexities going by current foreign exchange market intricacies.
The Executive Secretary of the Association, Clement Isong spoke at a media forum organised by the association on Thursday in Lagos. Isong complained that the complexities of the forex market uncertainty have stopped members from embarking on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol.
He said that it is not easy to put together a correct mathematical calculation of the product’s landing cost to further determine the appropriate pump price. The Executive Secretary while sharing his members’ position on the present industry value chain conundrum said their investment is not fully protected with dollarisation of certain charges.
According to him, “The market and consumers are not immune to government policy that allows Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, continuous charges in dollars, said Isong. He also, informed that though marketers receive products from Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL Trading, ship-to-ship products offload is transacted in dollars all of which pushes up the cost of the pump price.
“We are presently concerned about sustainability, efficiencies, and affordability of energy for Nigerians and we are encouraging the shift to energy transition specifically into gas space.” the ES said.
