The Nigerian Gas and Oil Suppliers Association (NOGASA) has called on the federal government to impose price regulation on Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) diesel, proposing capping its pump price similar to that of petrol.
The association’s national president, Chief Bennett Korie, who made the call in Abuja yesterday blamed the rising cost of diesel and the high dollar rate for the worsening petrol price.
He warned that if the Federal Government fails to address the challenges, the hostile business environment will naturally liquidate marketers of petrol before the end of February 2024.
The NOGASA boss said: “Fix that diesel problem then PMS will be stable. If NNPCL will keep the PMS Price from June to date, is there anything wrong with doing it for AGO?
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In the bid to tame the worsening exchange rate crisis, Korie urged the government to adopt the N750/$ 2024 Budget exchange rate benchmark as its official exchange rate.
He revealed that most private refineries including the modular ones are afraid to commence production because they are not sure of the price to fix.
According to him, some agencies such as the Nigeria Ports Authority and the Nigerian Maritime and Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) are still collecting their payments in dollars to aggravate the forex challenge.
He urged the government to intervene in the bank interest rate, which is also accountable for the current hostile business environment in the country.
He also admonished the government to do all its domestic crude oil transactions in Naira to lessen the scarcity of dollars.
