Pricing of petroleum products is one of the greatest challenges facing Nigeria, the Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Ibe Kachikwu has said.
He made this know while speaking on Monday at a special session at the ongoing Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS).
Kachikwu emphasized the need for the country to urgently address the issue of fuel pricing.
The minister said unless the problem of appropriate petrol and gas pricing was addressed, fixing the existing refineries and encouraging private investors to build new ones would not solve the country’s downstream problems.
He said: “Everybody wants power, available gas and freely delivered fuel with no queues, but people are not willing to make the sacrifices that are essential for these things to happen.
“However, if we get refineries back by 2019, does that solve the problem? No, it doesn’t. You still have to deal with the pricing issues, because nobody is going to build a refinery and sell products at a loss.”
Also speaking, the President of the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA), Dada Thomas, called for a consensus in the price of gas that is acceptable to both buyers (gas consumers) and sellers (gas producers).
