"It is risky for any marketer to attempt to hoard the product...," the professor said.
A Professor of Energy and Electricity Law at the University of Lagos, Yemi Oke, on Monday warned marketers against hoarding of petroleum products.
Mr Oke said it is unpatriotic and will certainly become counter-productive for any marketer to attempt or contemplate hoarding petroleum products.
Fuel queues returned to Nigerian cities on Monday as many motorists scrambled to get petroleum products hours after President Bola Tinubu announced that the government will put an end to the fuel subsidy regime.
Mr Tinubu had, in his inaugural address at Eagle Square, Abuja, declared that there would no longer be a petroleum subsidy regime as it was not sustainable.
He said the current 2023 budget only has provision for the fuel subsidy till June, adding that the funds meant for subsidies will be diverted to the creation of public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs.
Mr Oke, in a statement Monday night, said the administration of the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, already decided to put an end to the subsidy regime by June.
"The new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu simply emphasized that the current supplementary budget even makes no provisions for subsidy beyond June.
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"It is risky for any marketer to attempt to hoard the product because the new regime allows marketers to bring in products and sell at rates suitable to them, which may even drive prices lower," he said.
Mr Oke explained that a deregulated petroleum regime simply means that any prudent marketer can bring in products, and may sell at cheaper rates to edge out unscrupulous, greedy and unpatriotic marketers.
He noted that the margin of subsidised petroleum and open-market rates is not as substantial, and may even be sold at slightly cheaper rates compared to the current rate.
Also lending credence to the likelihood of market forces throwing up slightly cheaper or moderately higher petroleum product rates is the recently commissioned Dangote Refineries, he argued.
"Nigerians should definitely expect an abundance of petroleum products, particularly Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) and will diligently manage their consumption patterns.
"Market structures will modulate prices and may drive supply "high" (northwards) and prices "low" (southwards).
"Business prudence demands that the current supplies should not be distorted by unpatriotic marketers who might want to create needless artificial scarcity. Doing this will surely be counterproductive aside from being criminal and reprehensible," he said.
