Oil and gas dealers in the country, under the auspices of Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) , have threatened to suspend operation from next month, citing the harsh operating environment in the downstream oil sector.
The association said the situation had led to the collapse of about 70 percent of businesses in the industry, and that the over 200 members of NOGASA may withdraw their services from next month if the government does not act fast.
President of NOGASA, Benneth Korie, made this known after a resolution of the association’s executive committee meeting in Abuja.
He said members of the association had resolved that the government should peg the foreign exchange rate at N750/$ in order to enable refineries to start pumping out refined products.
Korie said it was becoming increasingly difficult for oil marketers to fund their operations, a development that led to the shutdown of 70 per cent downstream oil sector businesses.
He also mentioned the issue of high bank interest rates, noting that “today, if you want to buy one truck of PMS, you will spend N30 million and if you go to a bank to get N30 million at over 30 per cent interest rate, you know how much you will pay to the bank, all in the name of inflation.”
“So if care is not taken, we will also withdraw our service because there is no way out. 70 percent of oil traders are out of business, so it is better that the government looks into this issue before it gets out of hand. Many of them (operators) cannot talk but they come to us to complain.
“So, we just want to tell the Nigerian government that if something is not done from now to the end of this month, it will affect the marketers. Everybody is struggling to get money from the bank. From the 1st of next month, we will withdraw services if nothing is done,” Korie stated.
