Independent Petroleum marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Rivers chapter, has appealed to NNPC to ensure availability of petrol at Port Harcourt depots.
Chairman of the chapter, Sunny Ikpe on Thursday in Port Harcourt said that the high cost of petrol in the state was due to the scarcity of the product at NNPC depots.
Ikpe said that complaints by the residents, especially commercial drivers, over high cost of petrol instead of government approved price of N87, was not a fault of marketers.
He said the scarcity of petrol at government depots in the state had forced marketers to buy the product from private depots outside the state.
The IPMAN chairman stated that it was difficult selling petrol at the official pump price of N87 after buying from a private depot.
“The truth is that a marketer who buys from a private depot must have bought at a higher price and must also make some profit in the end.
“Marketers are forced to buy from private depots because products are sometimes not available at the government depots,” he said.
Ikpe said that the situation was not an act of mischief by the marketers or an attempt to inflict pains on the people.
“It is purely an issue of economic reality and the interplay of demand and supply; that is why the price is never steady; sales price changes in line with cost price,” he said.
But the NNPC said there was adequate supply of petroleum products across the country.
NNPC urged marketers to desist from hoarding the product and members of the public should desist from panic buying.
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