Marketers warn of petrol stations shutting down over high rising operating costs

Petroleum products marketers have warned of more petrol retail outlets shutting down their operations due to increasing cost of running the business.

President of the National Executive Council meeting of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA), Benneth Korie, who gave the warning on Tuesday in Abuja during a press conference, faulted processes followed by President Bola Tinubu in the removal of subsidies on petrol at his inaugural speech on May 29.

He said the government ought to have put in measures to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal before the announcement was made.

Korie said the nation’s refineries ought to have been operational and issues around foreign exchange resolved before the petrol subsidy was removed by the President.

He also questioned the Federal Government’s inability to end the illicit trading of dollars in the country, warning that the downstream sector in the country was under serious pressure as stations were shutting down due to harsh operational conditions.

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“Depot owners are so terribly affected by the increasing cost of the crude and exchange rate to the extent that many depots are practically deserted as their owners are unable to secure bank loans to fund their business due to high interest rates,” Korie said.

“Banks are not willing to guarantee funds release to stakeholders as a result of the difficulty, instability and galloping foreign exchange rate. Many depots are presently dried up or out of stock.

“Worst hit are filling stations whose owners find it extremely difficult to secure funds to procure products for their retail outlets and both the independent and major marketers are so terribly affected as at today.

“Filling stations are shutting down in great numbers on a daily basis and dealers are going out of business with many more on the verge of bankruptcy because of their inability to secure funds to facilitate orders for their stations,” he said.

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