Following the removal of subsidy on petrol, the marketers are struggling to raise the required capital to purchase the product at the depots, a check by Vanguard has shown.

Before the removal of subsidies, ticket prices to load at the depot averaged N8.1 million per truck. The new price is now N21.8 million, much higher by over 169 percent.

Marketers have said raising the new capital at short notice has become extremely difficult.

Speaking on the challenges at the weekend, the Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, told Vanguard that the financial implication for the independent marketers is dire.

He stated: "We are facing a terrible situation. Our tickets are stuck. The price now is too high. The challenge is that the ones we paid for at the old rate, we were not supplied and now we have a new rate.

"The ex-depot price is now N484 per litre depending on the depot you are loading from, compared to N180 per litre we paid.

"NNPC is the only source of petrol products and we are saying this is wrong. The government must open the sector up. There cannot be deregulation and NNPC would be setting profit margins for the marketers", he added.

He disclosed that in the Lagos area, independent marketers have 5,700 tickets outstanding, 600 tickets in Port Harcourt and 1,200 tickets in Warri, Delta State.

Ukadike, who stressed that the marketers were ready to compete in the deregulated market, urged the government to provide a level playing field for all marketers.

"We cannot have only one source of petroleum products and claim that the sector is deregulated. We are ready to compete but the business environment must be the same for every player."