Follow Us on Google
From Uche Usim, Abuja
Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, has weighed in on the lingering scarcity of aviation fuel (Jet A1) and diesel in Nigeria, describing it as a global challenge, not peculiar to Nigeria alone.
He said the federal government was working on ameliorating the scathing situation that has forced many businesses to shut down.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Ministerial meeting on the reactivation of the Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline Project (TSGP), in Abuja on Monday, the Minister said both aviation fuel and diesel were totally deregulated products, which removes price-fixing from the government’s control.
Sylva added that the rapidly-rising prices of both commodities have further been worsened by the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.
He said: “The problem with aviation fuel is that it is a deregulated commodity. So, it is not within the purview of the government to fix the prices at all. And of course, the actual issue is also the paucity of foreign exchange, people cannot access foreign exchange to import this for the time being. NNPC has been the main importer of this product, but what we’re trying to do is to democratize the importation so that users themselves should be able to access foreign exchange from the I and E window to be able to import this product. It is not a supply issue at all. Just a global problem. You know that the problem in Ukraine and Russia has actually exacerbated the rise in their prices, not just in Nigeria.
“The high cost of diesel is also because of the same reason. And these are not subsidized commodities. They are deregulated commodities, so actually, it is not within the purview of the government to intervene in the price”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA), has raised the alarm that 75 per cent of filling stations and businesses were on the verge of shutting down as diesel, which powers their operations, now’s sells for N850 a litre and has eroded any profit they could make.
The President of the Association, Mr Benneth Korie, made the disclosure in Abuja at a media briefing to explain why there has been persistent petrol scarcity in Abuja and the North East.
According to him, the price of diesel would likely hit between N1,000 to N1,500 a litre by year-end if concerted efforts are not made to tackle the horrible development.
He said various depots in the south and South-South had petrol but the cost of transporting the commodity to Abuja and other parts of the north to sell at a retail pump price of N165 was pure business suicide.
He said: “The price of diesel is too high. There is no way oil marketers can buy diesel to power their tankers at N850/litre amid bad roads and other challenges, only to sell petrol at a subsidised price of N165/litre.
“We have N4 trillion for subsidy till the year-end. But diesel is what is used to bring in petrol but it’s fully deregulated and extremely expensive. That is why if you go round filling stations in Abuja, only a few places are selling petrol because if you load, you will run at a loss”.
