The cost of diesel per litre is expected to increase from N800 to N1,500 within the next two weeks. This was disclosed by the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association (NOGASA) on Tuesday during a media briefing in Abuja. According to them, the cost of diesel will hit the roof.
About 75 per cent of filling stations in Nigeria have gone out of business. There is no diesel to take fuel to their stations. The cost of bringing fuel to the stations is too high, according to Bennett Korie, the president of NOGASA. If the government could bring down the rate at which it spends foreign exchange on PMS imports. it would help other businessmen who import diesel to bring in products at low prices.
He said, “The price is N850/litre and you are giving your driver 1,200 litres from Lagos to Abuja. If you do the calculation, you will find out that the landing cost (for transporting the fuel) is about N40/litre.
Russell Hardy, head of Oil Trader, Vitol, warned that “Europe imports about half of its diesel from Russia and about half of its diesel from the Middle East,” adding that a systemic shortfall of diesel is there as Russian imports account for roughly 15% of Europe’s diesel consumption, and crude oil from Russia processed in Europe.
“The shift to more diesel consumption over petrol in Europe had created shortages of the fuel,” he stated. This warns that refineries could boost their diesel output in response to higher prices at the expense of other oil-derived products to shore up supply.
-Nairametrics.
