The Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) says the rise in landing cost of petroleum products has renewed calls for full deregulation.
Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole said that deregulation of the downstream remained the best option as the ongoing subsidy by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was not sustainable.
Adewole said that as private marketers continued to stay on the sidelines in terms of petroleum products importation, depot owners had reiterated the need for the Federal Government to fully deregulate the fuel market.
He said that NNPC had been the sole importer of petrol into the country for two years and that private oil marketers stopped importation due to shortage of foreign exchange and increase in crude oil prices, which made the landing cost of the product higher than the official pump price of N145 per litre.
(NAN)