Fuel price to crash soon –Marketers.

Nigerians may soon witness a systematic drop in the price of petrol, if the words of the Executive Secretary of Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore, is anything to go by.Olawore at an interactive session with Energy Editors in Lagos yesterday, clarified the misconception that the downstream sector had been deregulated, saying what the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) did with its template was price adjustment and not deregulation.“I’m assuring Nigerians that pump price of petrol will soon drop as against claims that it will rise above the present band. Prices won’t go up as long as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is bringing in products.“Although we are expected to source foreign exchange at the parallel market, the good news is that we are getting that from our upstream divisions,’’ he said.But despite the non availability of foreign exchange at the official exchange rate of N197 to $1, major marketers are relying on their upstream divisions to get forex to finance their imports.He explained that if it were to be fully deregulation, marketers would be at liberty to sell different grades of petroleum products at different prices as it was the case during the General Yakubu Gowon regime (I967-1975).‘‘Price adjustment is a necessary beginning towards full deregulation as that will encourage investors to invest in the sector,’’ he said.He said MOMAN members have invested about $12 million dollars to address the challenge of metering at the jetties, adding that the investment would help its members to get actual volumes of products discharged from vessels.Olawore’s assurance on price reduction may have been informed by fears expressed by civil society groups that marketers might take advantage of the current price adjustments and sell above N135-N145 per litre price band approved by the government.Under the present arrangement worked out by the Federal Government to ease forex constraints, Shell is supporting Conoil, while Agip is extending same lifeline to Oando as ExxonMobil supports Mobil Oil Nigeria. Total upstream is supporting Total Nigeria,  while MRS and Forte Oil will get support from NNPC.But to put an end to the challenge of the perennial fuel scarcity, the MOMAN boss stated that full deregulation was the answer to the problem.“The solution to fuel scarcity is full deregulation and if there are no policy reversals, marketers will bring in products.