*Nigeria should seriously look into CNG as alternative – IPMAN
The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Okoronkwo, on Tuesday blamed the cost of dollars for the sudden increase in the pump price of petroleum products.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited on Tuesday increased the price of petrol from N500 per litre to N617.
The new increase came shortly after the petrol price was increased to over N500 per litre following the removal of fuel subsidy.
Okoronkwo, who spoke on a television programme, said, “This business is done with dollars. Remember the rate of dollars now is in one window and not like we had several others, where CBN will give around N400 while the black market will be around the region of N700 but now there is no more second window.
“Today the dollar is around N800 and in a deregulated regime, what determines the price of anything is the cost. The product is not refined here, everything is imported”.
The IPMAN boss, advocated the use of Compressed Natural Gas as an alternative to petrol.
He said, “If we want to achieve anything, there are other alternatives we have proffered. The CNG is something this nation needs to seriously look into; so it would be a matter of choice if you want to use gas or petrol.
“The price has really gone up because of the fundamentals in the market which has to do with the dollars,” he said.
