Marketers in the petroleum industry are cautioning that they may have to cease their retail operations because of the growing costs involved.
The National Executive Council meeting of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) in Abuja saw marketers express their disapproval of President Bola Tinubu’s approach to petrol subsidy removal, highlighting the absence of required preparations.
The marketers maintained their position that the nation’s refineries should have been up and running, and foreign exchange issues should have been resolved prior to the removal of the petrol subsidy.
There were inquiries from the marketers about the Federal Government’s inability to clamp down on the illicit dollar trade in the country.
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In his remarks at the meeting, Mr. Benneth Korie, President of NOGASA, emphasized the dire state of the downstream industry in the country, with stations ceasing operations due to adverse operational conditions.
He stated: ‘Depot owners are so terribly affected by the increasing cost of the crude and exchange rate to the extent that many depots are practically deserted as their owners are unable to secure bank loans to fund their business due to high interest rates.’
‘Banks are not willing to guarantee funds release to stakeholders as a result of the difficulty, instability and galloping foreign exchange rate. Many depots are presently dried up or out of stock.’
‘Worst hit are filling stations whose owners find it extremely difficult to secure funds to procure products for their retail outlets and both the independent and major marketers are so terribly affected that as at today, filling stations are shutting down in great numbers on a daily basis and dealers are going out of business with many more on the verge of bankruptcy because of their inability to secure funds to facilitate orders for their stations’.