Nigerian Gas and Oil Suppliers Association (NOGASA) has urged Federal Government to regulate price of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) diesel, by sealing its pump price like that of petrol.

National President, Bennett Korie, spoke in Abuja. He blamed rising cost of diesel and high dollar rate for worsening petrol price.

 

He warned that should government fail to address the challenges, the hostile environment will liquidate petrol marketers and force them to fold up before end of February.

 

“Fix diesel problem, then PMS will be stable. If NNPCL will keep PMS price from June to date, is anything wrong doing it for AGO?

 

“If the government wants to be fair and deregulate properly, diesel should go the same way PMS is going. Heavens will not fall if AGO is sold for N650/litre. The same magic they have in PMS, government should apply it on AGO, and then you should see things ease.”

 

Korie urged government to adopt the N750/$ 2024 budget exchange rate benchmark as official exchange rate to tame the worsening exchange rate crisis.

 

According to him, most private refineries, including modular ones, are afraid to begin production because they are not sure of the price to fix.

 

He added that some agencies as Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigerian Maritime and Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) are collecting payments in dollars to aggravate the forex challenge.

 

Credit: thenationonlineng.net