IPMAN assures fuel pump price will soon fall as players compete for market share
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Oil marketers are optimistic pump price will soon crash, now that the sector has been deregulated, with subsidy being removed to enable private firms import petroleum products and compete for market share.
Chinedu Anyaso, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Enugu Depot Chairman in charge of in charge of Anambra, Ebonyi, and Enugu, gave the assurance in Awka.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has been the sole importer of refined petroleum in the past four years as other players cannot access foreign exchange (forex) to compete with the monopoly.
Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Managing Director, Farouk Ahmed, clarified on June 2 that private marketers can now import and sell petroleum products.
Under the new arrangement, he explained, the NNPC has ceased to be the sole importer of fuel.
“We put the regulation in place, we make sure quality control is complied with, we make sure the product is there and we give licence to any prospective importer,” Ahmed said.
“The market is now open for everybody that wants to import as far as they meet all the requirements. The NMDPRA will no longer fix prices or release [price] templates for petrol.
“As far as we are concerned in the NMDPRA, this is not like before when the PPPRA fixed the price. In a deregulated market, it is market forces that dictate price.”
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Appropriate response to market demand
Anyaso hailed the new arrangement as a positive development and an appropriate response to the demands of marketers and the masses who have condemned the monopolistic grip of the NNPC on the oil and gas sector for decades.
He said this would create a competitive pricing environment and allow market forces to demand the price of products, per Daily Post.
His words: “Two days ago, I repeated the call that the federal government should issue import licences to private investors, I also said it is wrong for the NNPCL, which is a private company, to be the sole importer and determiner of prices.
“I am happy that the same NMDPRA also announced that approval has been given to private importers. This is how it should be in a deregulated industry.
“The competition that will begin in the coming days will surely ease the pain of high prices of products.”