Several calls to the NNPC to speak on the hike in PMS price, were not answered, as the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria attributed the increase in the cost of petrol to the high rate of logistics.
In a statement issued on Friday night, MOMAN sympathised with customers and Nigerians over the challenges being faced in the purchase of petrol at filling stations across the country.
It said, “These queues are caused by exceptional high demand and bottlenecks in the distribution chain. The major cause is the shortage and high (US dollar) costs of daughter vessels for ferrying product from mother vessels to depots along the coast.
“Next is inadequate number of trucks to meet the demand to deliver product from depots to filling stations nationwide. These high logistics and exchange rate costs continue to put pressure on prices at the pumps.
“Over the past three months, staff and management of MOMAN companies have worked diligently at depots and filling stations to relieve the stress faced by customers through the Christmas and New year period.”
It added, “Our members have again agreed to extend depot loading hours as well as keep strategically situated service stations open for long hours to ease access to fuel for our customers.”
MOMAN said it shall continue to use its best endeavours to ensure that the product was sold at pump prices currently approved by the regulatory authorities, despite pressure on the price by demand and costs in their immediate operating environment.
“A final resolution to these challenges will be the full deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector to encourage the liberalidation of supply and long-term investment distribution assets. We urge the government to work towards this end goal,” the marketers stated.
SOURCE: PUNCH
