- Why kerosene Remains Expensive, by IPMAN
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has said household cooking fuel, Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), remains expensive because only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is responsible for its availability.
While the state-run oil firm supplies kerosene from the local refineries, it remains the sole importer of the product.
A litre of kerosene, which is used by the poor, goes for between N170 and N230, depending on the filling station it is bought from. The government has fixed its price at N50 per litre.
IPMAN’s National Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, said the oil firm could afford to sell the product at a lower price than other marketers that still depend on it.
In a telephone interview at the weekend, Maigandi added that since NNPC has this monopoly of the kerosene business, some of its officials at the depots and refineries take advantage of it to demand gratification before loading IPMAN members, who ironically depend on the NNPC for the product.
Maigandi lamented that IPMAN is also finding it difficult to access foreign exchange for the importation of kerosene and other products.
“Kerosene is still on the high side because of the corruption in NNPC’s depots and refineries. Unfortunately, this still happens because it is only the NNPC that has the resources to bring the kerosene into the country.
“But instead of giving the marketers without underhand dealing, they collect money before they give you allocation.
“Marketers cannot import the kerosene because of its high rate. If you import it since NNPC has its own products there will be competition. If you import they will be selling it at a lower rate and you will lose,” he added.
