Operators in the downstream oil and gas industry claim that in the past 30 days, the removal of fuel subsidies brought in N400 billion for the federal government.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria’s National President, Chinedu Okonkwo, said this in an interview on Friday.
Okonkwo remarked that the deregulation has a long-term impact when discussing the state of the sector as a result of the removal of the subsidies and changes in the country’s foreign exchange market.
Depending on the market-determined price of foreign exchange, the development, in his opinion, would either result in an increase in fuel prices or a decrease.
He added that the impact on the masses would gradually decrease by introducing Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, into the sector.
“You know how much the government is spending monthly on fuel subsidies payment, but that expenditure to the tune of dollars or Naira will be saved.
“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.
Recall that in a meeting with oil and gas operators in February, Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, had stated that the country spends N400 billion monthly on fuel subsidies.