Major fuel marketers in the country have said the expected reduction in diesel and kerosene prices has not materialised because of their inability to access foreign exchange for importation in recent weeks.
Earlier report indicate that the pump prices of the two products had yet to reflect the collapse of global crude oil prices despite the deregulation of the products by the Federal Government.
The pump price of petrol, which is still being regulated by the government, was reduced to N125 per litre from N145 per litre on March 18.
A new price band of N123.50-N125 per litre was also announced last week.
It was gathered that kerosene, which is still used by many Nigerians for cooking, is being sold for N230 per litre in parts of Lagos, while diesel prices ranged from N210 to N240 per litre.
Data obtained from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency showed that the landing cost of diesel was N121.54 per litre on March 6, while the indicative open market price stood at N133.36 per litre.
The Chairman, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr Adetunji Oyebanji, told our correspondent that if marketers had free access to forex, they could have brought in cheaper products, and prices would have come down much faster.
He said, “In a deregulated market, generally, when prices are going up, they tend to go faster than coming down. But what determines it more or less is the ability to get supplies quickly.
“But now people are selling their old stock and they cannot get forex; talk to bankers – how easy is it for people to get $10m to import a cargo of diesel now? So, that is the problem.”
Source: Punchng.com
