Pastor Tonye Cole, a former governorship candidate in Rivers State, has expressed doubts about the ability of Nigerian refineries to sell a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as Petrol for N700 or less at the current moment.
In an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday, Cole spoke just hours after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) revealed that the Port Harcourt refinery had resumed crude oil processing.
According to the NNPC, the refinery is operating at 60 percent capacity, refining 60,000 barrels per day, and the Warri Refinery is also set to begin producing petroleum products in the near future.
However, despite these positive developments, the Rivers-based businessman pointed out that several factors, including the importation of machinery and other essential components, would play a crucial role in determining the cost of refining and selling fuel.
“The price being sold in Nigeria is lower than what an imported cargo would land at,” Tonye Cole, a two-time governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Rivers State said.
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“As a result of that, most people are not bothered to import.
“So, Nigerians are already benefiting from that. Secondly, the volume of consumption in Nigeria has dropped, as a result of that, the pressure you used to have on foreign exchange has gone down because we’re no longer importing that much.
“What you’re selling is in naira, naira is what you use in buying crude, so we’re already feeling the impact of that,” he added.
On why the petrol is not being sold below N700, Cole said, “I don’t think we’ll get it [N700].
“There are certain things you still need to deal with. There are many components you’re still bringing in.
“All the things that were refurbished at the refinery were refurbished with products and machineries brought in from outside the country.
“So we still have a huge foreign exchange component we have to deal with.”
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