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Marketers of petroleum products in Nigeria have reeled out their expectations for the downstream sector in 2021.
Top on their expectations include the total deregulation of the downstream sector, the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the completion of the Dangote Refinery.
The Chairman of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Managing Director of 11Plc, Mr. Adetunji Oyebanjo, told THISDAY that operators equally hope to recover from the losses they incurred last year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and its attendant collapse of oil price and the oil and gas industry in general.
Controversies have continued to trail the federal government’s claim that it has deregulated the downstream sector of the nation’s petroleum industry as marketers have maintained their position that the market has not yet been deregulated.
By Udeme Akpan
Against the possible return to fuel subsidy burden, the Federal Government may have begun moves to get the organised private sector to implement a shift to gas from petrol in powering automobiles.
An investigation by Vanguard shows that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, through the National Gas Expansion Programme, NGEP, has already engaged with many stakeholders, including the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN for this purpose.
The move, Vanguard learnt, became necessary as autogas is becoming increasingly cheaper while petrol prices are steadily going up.