TheCable

Oil marketers have insisted the current N165 a litre pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) is no longer sustainable.

The development comes as queues for petrol resurfaced in various parts of the country. 

Zarma Mustapha, deputy national president, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), disclosed this to The Punch on Thursday. 

He said the federal government had been notified concerning marketers’ intentions to increase petrol price. 

“The current pump price is no longer sustainable, and we have made this known to the government. However, we must acknowledge the efforts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in ensuring product availability,” he said.

Bennett Korie, national president, Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association, said Nigerians would need to adjust to the present situation. 

He reiterated that it was not feasible to dispense petrol at the approved rate of N165 per litre across filling stations in the country, saying the product costs about N170 a litre in some private depots.

Despite the push by oil marketers to increase the pump price of petrol, the federal government had said it would not prop up the commodity price, citing current economic hardship.