Marketers Predict Diesel to Hit N1,500 Per Litre, Push for Fuel Price Increase
- Oil marketers have sounded the alarm about the impending increase in the price of diesel, citing the cost of moving products to the filling stations
- The marketers said unless something drastic is done, the price may hit N1,500 in two weeks as many of their members have shutdown petrol stations
- They asked the Nigeria government to slightly increase the price of fuel to enable them make profit and move goods to petrol stations
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It is about to get worse for businesses in Nigeria as the cost of diesel is expected to increase from N800 to N1,500 per litre in the next two weeks.
The Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers disclosed this in a press statement on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, in Abuja.
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Filling stations shut across Nigeria due to high cost of diesel
The marketers said the cost of diesel will hit the roof soon if nothing serious is done to mitigate the current challenges facing importers of the commodity.
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Bennett Korie, the President of the association said that 75 per cent of filling stations across Nigeria have shut down business due to the lack of diesel to convey supplies to them, saying unless the price of fuel is slightly increased, the situation will get worse.
Nairametrics reported Korie as saying that the cost of conveying petrol and other products to stations is too high due to the increase in the pump price of diesel, blaming the scarcity of petrol in Abuja and Nasarawa State on the inability to move the products to those areas.
He said that importers are not getting dollars at the official exchange rate, saying, everyone sources the dollars at the parallel market to enable them to import diesel.
Fuel price increase likely too
He urged the federal government to increase the price of fuel to enable the Central Bank of Nigeria to save foreign exchange.
Korie urged the government to cut down the rate it spends foreign exchange on fuel imports to enable businessmen to bring in the products.
According to Nairametrics, Head of Oil Trader at Vitol warned that Europe imports half of its diesel from Russia and the other half from the Middle East, saying that shortfalls of diesel from Russian imports accounted for about 15 per cent of Europe’s consumption and that crude oil is refined there.
Telecom operators lament poor electricity supply, spend N360 billion on diesel cost
Legit.ng reported that the telecommunication companies have cried out to the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) over the poor electricity supply in the country.
They said that the cost of running and powering telecom services across the country has jumped by 233.33 per cent in recent months to about N360 billion every month.
The Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) said the cost of diesel to run network towers, base stations and offices increased from N225 per litre to N750 per litre as of March 2022.
Source: Legit.ng
