The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP) have denied plans to increase petrol price to N700 per litre.
The Associations in an interview, in Abuja on Saturday, dismissed reports of the alledged increase of pump price as prediction and speculation.
Market forces were driving the fuel price, and the current high exchange rate could increase the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, hence the prediction.
The Naira on Friday dropped against the dollar, exchanging at N769.25 at the investors and exporters window.
The Naira depreciated by 0.82 per cent compared with N763 it exchanged for the dollar before the Eid-el-Kabir holiday that began on June 28.
Some oil marketers had predicted that petrol price could rise above N700 per litre in northern region and around N600 in Lagos once independent marketers start importing the products from July.
Their predictions were based on the current high exchange rate, crude price and landing cost.
The trend caused tension and panic buying as queues of motorists sprung up at the onset of weekend in some filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
NNPCL retail outlets and others were still dispensing fuel between N540 and N542 per litre.
Chinedu Okorokwo, the IPMAN President, refuted the reports indicating a hike in fuel price from July 1, stating that they were mere speculation and should not be given light.
“The high dollar rate could cause the increase in pump price, thereby affecting the importation of petroleum products”.
He stated that, in the light of deregulation, importers who wished to do the business could participate in the open oil market and would only receive licensing from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Also, Alhaji Lawan Dan-Zaki, the ADITOP President, attributed the prediction to the high exchange rate being experienced at the moment. He added that importers would only sell according to what they obtained at the international market.
He urged Nigerians to exercise patience because, due to the experienced deregulation, the PMS price would continue to fluctuate because of the market forces until it stabilized.
Dan-Zaki said the NMDPRA had issued licenses to five companies for importation of fuel.
“As of now, no cargo comes with the high price, marketers are just predicting. The importers are also very clever, they just want the government to intervene and consider them in giving lower price, exchange rate.
“As time goes on when the competition begins, the pump price of fuel will come down because it is only the market competition that will bring the price down.
He said due to the deregulation, the government must allow the market force on demand and supply to determine the price.
Dan-Zaki said that though government has allowed the marketers to import fuel by themselves, the exchange rate and the rate Naira struggles for value against dollar affect the market.
“The former official exchange rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not realistic anymore.
“So, if an importer is importing a product, they have to buy at the black-market rate, and that will determine how much they sell to marketers and other consumers.
“If he imports at N700 per dollar, there is no way a marketer will buy at N700 and still sell at same price,’’ the ADITOP president said.
He urged the Federal Government to ensure that the local refineries, including Dangote’s resumed operations soon to end importation and guard against fuel price hike in the country.