Remove Fees On Locally Refined Diesel, Producers Tell FG

Operators of modular refineries in Nigeria, on Wednesday, called on the Federal Government to remove many fees attached to locally refined Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, in order to help reduce the ballooning cost of the commodity.

Diesel prices have been on the rise in the past few months, crippling economic activities in various sectors, particularly in the downstream oil industry where the situation has stalled the operations of many filling stations.

Oil marketers had repeatedly stated that the high cost of diesel made it difficult for them to move products from tank farms in the South to filling stations in the North, without increasing the price of the transported products.

To help reduce the cost of diesel, particularly the ones produced domestically by modular refineries, operators of the facilities on Wednesday said the Federal Government should remove the many fees being charged on the commodity.

They made the call under the aegis of the Crude Oil Refinery-Owners Association of Nigeria, during a courtesy call on the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, at his office in Abuja.

This came as queues for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, grew worse in the Federal Capital Territory and neighbouring Nasarawa and Niger states, as many independent retail stations were shut down due to lack of products to dispense.

Speaking at the meeting with the petroleum minister, the President, CORAN, Momoh Oyarekhua, said, “As at today, for every litre of AGO (diesel) or DPK (kerosene) you sell into the market, those fees cumulate into about N9.80, which invariably increases the price of that product into the market.”