Operators within the downstream oil and gas sector have said the federal government raked in N400 billion due to fuel subsidy removal in the last 30 days.
The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chinedu Okonkwo, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen.
You will recall that in a meeting with oil and gas operators in February, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari stated that the country spends N400 billion monthly on fuel subsidies.
Speaking on the state of the sector owing to the removal of the subsidy and changes in the country’s foreign exchange market, Okonkwo said that the deregulation has a long time impact.
According to him, the development would either lead to an increase in fuel price or a decrease depending on the market-determined price of forex.
He added that the impact on the masses would gradually decrease by introducing Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, into the sector.
“The government has indeed reduced spending on fuel subsidies, though the thing is biting, so we have drafted an alternative in Compressed Natural Gas, CNG,” he said.