NNPC: We’re back to subsidy regime… N145/litre of petrol is unsustainable

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the country is back into the subsidy regime, as major importers have refused import fuel despite the availability of foreign exchange.

Speaking in Lagos on Monday evening, Mele Kauri, NNPC general manager for Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD), said the problem was no longer that of foreign exchange.

 It is impossible today to import products at the current market price, at current fixed foreign exchange,” he said.“We have a very difficult business environment.

“There is no way today you can take products to retailers and sell at N145. It is not possible.”. If that is true and I believe that it is, because we all go into the market, why can’t we sell above N145? That is where legislation should come in.

He said the government could not raise the pump price of petrol today, but the current trading regime is not sustainable.

 This government cannot sustain it. The people will not accept that figure.“I also know today that it is impossible for this government into announce tomorrow that petrol is about N150. That is the truth.

 It is not FX. The reason being given is that FX is not enough through import.“That is why suppliers are not importing. We have created a niche market for the FX. But that is not true. We gave FX. I am part of the committee allocating FX. It was rejected.

 It is not FX.“The truth is that marketers go back into the market and land it here, that you are required to sell it at N145 maximum. That is the main reason people are not importing today. I am sure they won’t make it. We won’t let you be it today.”.

 That is not possible. There is no way you bring product today and sell at N145 and get back your money, and make profit.“Today, we are in subsidy regime, absolutely.

 Somebody has taken the heat off the price.“You can see some marketers saying that fuel is N138.”. It is because they did not import.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Garba Deen Muhammad, NNPC spokesperson, said the N145 a litre ceiling is sustainable. He said there was no need through panic.