Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria,MOMAN,says its members will not increase pump price of fuel,despite pressure on price by demand and costs in its immediate operating environment.
The marketers also said as a law abiding group,they will continue to use its best endeavors to ensure that product is sold at the pump at prices currently approved by the regulatory authorities in the country.
A statement by the group obtained by Premium News,quoted it as sympathizing with their customers and Nigerians over the current challenges in the purchase of petrol at
filling stations across the country.
These queues are caused by exceptional high demand and bottlenecks in the fuel
distribution chain,the statement said.
It added:”The major cause is the shortage and high(US Dollar)costs of daughter vessels for ferrying product from mother vessels to depots along the coast. Next is the
inadequate number of trucks to meet the demand to deliver product from depots to filling stations nationwide.
“These high logistics and exchange rate costs continue to put pressure on prices at the
pump.Over the past three months,staff& management of MOMAN companies have
worked diligently at depots and filling stations to relieve the stress faced by customers
through the Christmas and New year period.
“Our members have again agreed to extend
depot loading hours as well as keep strategically situated service stations open for longer hours to ease access to fuel for our customers.
“A final resolution to these challenges will be the full deregulation of the petroleum
downstream sector to encourage liberalization of supply and long-term investments in
distribution assets.We urge the government to work towards this end goal”