Forte oil crash price of kerosene, Retail outlets flooded with products
Forte Oil, a major downstream player in the oil and gas industry, has taken a bold step toward making available kerosene to end users.
The latest effort is coming following outcry by consumers of the product who accused marketers of exploitation reports the leadership online news.
Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), a major cooking fuel in Nigeria, has been in short supply prompting middle men to exploit the market.
Leadership Sunday recently reported that major depots across the country were getting dry as marketers still boycott importation.
Importation of the product is currently monopolised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which sources said lack the capacity to satisfy domestic requirements.
Enquiries at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which regulates the industry showed that the agency has not considered it important to monitor sharp practices of marketers in the sale of kerosene.
An inside source at the DPR told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the agency has concentrated energy on the distribution of petrol which nearly grounded the economy in the last few months.
The source said NNPC has been the sole importer of the product and it is in short supply.
“We have difficulty in dealing with that situation; I think the marketers refused to import because of the profit margin and the NNPC, of course, is not capable of sustaining the importation.
Also speaking on the matter, spokesperson of NIPCO a major player in the downstream sector, Biodun Lawal, said the company at the moment do not have supply of the product.
“At our depot, we don’t have kerosene, so we are not selling. We only access it from NNPC but it is scarce”, Lawal confirmed.
Going by government policy, ex-depot price of kerosene is N30 per litre while marketers are expected to sell at N50 per litre.
However, our findings showed that depot owners sell at N120 to N126 per litre while marketers sell at N140 to N160 per litre.
To alleviate the suffering of the consumers, Forte Oil has committed to best service delivery by being in the forefront of the new Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) pump price of N50 per litre across its retail outlets.
LEADERSHIP Sunday learnt that Forte Oil has taken the bold step by making kerosene readily available at the official rate which is geared to impact positively on the lives of the citizenry as the average user now have the opportunity to buy directly from dispensing pumps at all Forte Oil retail outlets nationwide.
Our correspondent check at some of the retail stations especially at Ajah, Iyana Ipaja, Ikeja and Festac showed long queues of end users who besiege the company’s outlets to buy the product.
It will be recalled that the federal government through the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) had in its bid to make kerosene readily available, reportedly directed all petroleum product marketers to sell DPK at N50 per litre.