Members of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) have attributed the current scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in Nigeria to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
DAPPMAN made this position known in a press statement obtained by TheNewsDiet today and signed by its Executive Secretary, Mr. Olufemi Adebayo Adewole.
In the letter, DAPPMAN empathized with its customers and teeming Nigerian public on the current setback in the distribution and supply of PMS at the various stations dispensing.
Part of the letter read; “Nigerians would please note that the on-going Russia-Ukraine War has adversely affected the world, including our dear country Nigeria. Its adverse impact on the international prices of fuel and food supply, have resulted in a corresponding increase in local prices of goods and services.”
“The above situation has had its adverse effects on the operating cost of managing the various petroleum products depots in Nigeria. You would note that the petrol we supply, is sourced, solely from NNPC Limited’s marketing subsidiary, Petroleum Products Marketing Company Limited (PPMC) for our onward sale to the public at the regulated price of N165 per litre.”
According to the group, the purchase of PMS from the PPMC is achieved through funds sourced with high bank interest charges, alongside increased costs of hiring vessels utilized in the delivery of fuel cargoes to our depots.
The association also lamented intense scarcity of bunker fuel for running their vessels with the increase in the cost of diesel used in powering equipment and machineries in our depots and retail outlets.
“Overtime, depot owners and the government have struggled to sustain supply of petrol at the current pump price of N165 per litre despite the huge subsidy cost to Government and abysmal or no profit margins to the depot owners,” DAPPMAN said.
However, the association posited that an implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 would have provided an ideal enabling environment by creating the free market in which demand and supply would affect fuel pump price.
“We, hereby, assure the public that depot owners, working tenaciously with NNPC Limited, through its marketing subsidiary, will continue to ensure availability of products nationwide,” the report stressed.