The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has warned that it cannot guarantee the supply of petroleum products in the southeast.
This was made known by the agency in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Thursday.
This comes just 23 hours after it had already insisted that it was ready to comply with the official pump price of N165 per litre.
The marketers said that they could not sustain the availability of petroleum products when they exhaust their current stock as most outlets now sell the product for between N180 and N195 per litre.
Also, Automotive Gas Oil sells for between N850 and N900 per litre.
A marketer, Mr Emeka Nnoli, said that they were sacrificing a lot to ensure the availability of the product at the government-approved pump price as they could no longer procure products at the NNPC depots at the ex-depot price.
“It has become impossible for us to continue to sustain the current price of products in the zone.
“As we speak, ex-depot price of petrol is about N168 per litre with over N15 on transport per litre with all the risk.
“You can see that it does not make meaning selling below N200.
“Federal Government has left marketers at the mercy of private depot owners.
“The sacrifice we are making is just to protect our people,” Nnoli said.
Mr Chinedu Anyaso, Chairman of IPMAN at Enugu Depot in charge of Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu, said, “Marketers cannot lose their trading capital because they want to control price they did not have influence over”. He urged members to sell the products according to the cost without necessarily exploiting the people nor harming themselves.
“At the moment, the Enugu zone is wet with product, but it will be difficult to guarantee continued supply and competitive price by the time our members run out of stock, especially with what is happening at the source,” Anyaso added.
Recall that the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) had insisted that it will not sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol above N165 per litre.
This was disclosed by IPMAN National President, Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, on Wednesday in Abuja, after its Lagos branch insisted it will sell above the N180 price.
