- The minister of state for petroleum resources Emmanuel Kachikwu has again spoken on the price of petroleum products in Nigeria
- Kachikwu declared that the greater challenge that this country would have and still have is that of pricing
- He, however, said the federal government would be setting parameters and incentives for building of refineries
The minister of state for petroleum resources Emmanuel Kachikwu said the price of petroleum products and not lack of refineries was the major problem in the sector.
Daily Trust reports that Kachikwu the only mechanism that would address scarcity and lack of queues at the fuel station would be a review in price and not repair or building of new refineries.
He said: ''Ultimately, the greater challenge that this country would have and still have is that of pricing.
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''Everybody wants power, available gas and freely delivered fuel with no queues, but people are not willing to make the sacrifices that are essential for these things to happen. “Sometimes, it is a pricing issue.
''We have got to get to a point where we got to deal with some of these issues in a manner that doesn’t hurt our people but at the same time create the level of efficiency as to remove arbitrages and patronages that are inbuilt in them.
''Refineries and local production are key. We expect a 12 to 18 months corridor of construction and hopefully, at that point, we would get our refineries back.
''However, if we get refineries back by 2019, does that solve the problem? No, it doesn’t. You still have to deal with the pricing issues, because nobody is going to build a refinery and sell products at a loss.''
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He however disclosed also that the federal government would be setting parameters and incentives for building of refineries.
He said: ''This is to ensure that a typical producer, especially the small level producers are able to see enough incentives to be able to get some of their products refined in-country, then exported.
''That is the major policy directive. There are going to be incentives for those who are doing the major practical investments in the refineries for example. There is not a dearth of opportunities in this country.''
Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had reported that Kachikwu denied news reports that the federal government was planning to jack up the pump price of petrol, at present fixed at N145 per litre.
Idang Alibi, the director of press in the ministry in a statement on Thursday night, January 4, clarified the minister’s submission made to the joint committee of the National Assembly on Petroleum Downstream.
Fuel scarcity: This is getting too much for us - Nigerians lament - on NAIJ.com TV:
Source: Naija.ng