"So, NNPC has assured of supply and also the marketers have expressed their concerns about the availability of foreign exchange to also import and sell at the price," Mr Ahmed said.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and other relevant organisations in the oil sector on Monday moved to resolve the major challenges faced in the importation and distribution of petroleum products across the country.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja after a meeting at the headquarters of the NMDPRA, the operators said it seamlessly discussed the issues hampering the distribution of petroleum products in the country and came out with results.
According to the operators, the meeting was convened to address the major challenges faced by the oil marketers which include foreign exchange scarcity for the importation of petroleum products, non-functional refineries, banks' refusal to provide loans, and bad roads across Nigerian cities.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, Farouk Ahmed, the NMDPRA's Chief Executive Officer, said marketers have agreed to support the federal government in ensuring the availability of petrol to Nigerians at an affordable price.
"We had very robust discussions and they (oil marketers) expressed their concerns and also areas where we can support both the marketers and transporters to ensure that there is flow of petrol products across the country. So, NNPC has assured of supply and also the marketers have expressed their concerns about the availability of foreign exchange in order to also import and sell at the price," Mr Ahmed said.
"We, as regulators, can continue to say the market is open for everybody and all those who have applied for a license, over 90 marketing companies have gotten.
"We have given them access to all the required support that they needed to ensure there is a constant supply of products in the country."
On the foreign exchange challenges faced by marketers, Mr Ahmed explained that engagement had been ongoing with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in that direction to make the dollar available.
"We have been discussing with the government and if you must have observed that a lot of work is going on within the CBN in terms of their internal restructuring which will make available the dollar as soon as everything stabilizes.
"We are also working towards improvement in crude oil production, which will bring more revenue into the country and then, of course, boost our foreign reserves. These are all part of the factors that we are all working on towards stabilizing the naira," he noted.
Also speaking, Winifred Akpani, the chairman of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, (DAPPMAN) said there's an adequate supply of petrol products in the country.
"I think it is a good opportunity that this meeting is being held today. We know there's an adequate supply of products. We have sufficient products in the country and we have sufficient products in our depot and most of us will have products in our stations."
"The government has promised to resolve some of the issues for us, bearing in mind that we just transited from a regulated market to a deregulated market. We expect some of these issues to come but the most important thing is the willingness of all of us as stakeholders to resolve the problem.
"We assure the entire country that there is sufficient product and we will do all within our means to make sure that people never suffer for paying a higher price," the official said.
On his part, Dapo Segun, the executive vice president of Upstream, NNPCL, assured others of the company's commitment to making premium motor spirit (PMS) available for Nigerian citizens.
"NNPCL will continue to shop for supply. Yes, we have had discussions with other industry players on the issues affecting the industry.
"We are looking at ways to resolve these issues. We at NNPC will continue to make sure that supply is there and we will also support the industry," he said.
President of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), Othman Yusuf, said most trucks are parked and out of business due to some prevailing challenges in the sector.
Mr Yusuf explained that the state of the road, especially within the South-south and Southeast regions has made transporting products to the North unbearable.
"We have informed them categorically that we are no longer making a profit. That is the reason trucks are parked along the garages and they understand the situation. I believe they will do something about it," he said.
Clement Isong, the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MOMAN), said it was important for the challenges to be brought to the regulator, noting that "we are having challenges in terms of the inevitability of forex and the illiquidity of the I & E window."
Background
President Tinubu had announced the removal of fuel subsidy in his inaugural speech on 29 May.
Following the announcement, the NNPCL directed its outlets nationwide to sell fuel between N480 and N570 per litre, an almost 200 per cent increase from the initial price below N200, leading to a significant increase in transportation fares and prices of goods and services.
Again in July, petrol pump prices rose to N617 per litre at various outlets of the NNPCL in Abuja and other parts of the country.
At the time, the NNPCL attributed the rise in the petroleum pump prices in the country to 'market forces'.
Mr Kyari noted that with the deregulation of the oil sector, market realities would force the price of petrol up sometimes and at other times force it down.
In August, Mr Tinubu assured Nigerians that there would be no further increase in the pump price of petrol, despite the deregulation of the product.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this while briefing journalists in Abuja after a closed-door meeting with the president.
"The president wishes to assure Nigerians, following the announcements by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) just yesterday, that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit anywhere in the country," the spokesperson said.
"We repeat, the president affirms that there will be no increase in the pump price of petroleum motor spirit."
Mr Tinubu also acknowledged that there are inefficiencies within the downstream sector that are contributing to the fuel price controversy. He assured that all loopholes associated with the smooth delivery of petroleum products in the country will be addressed immediately.
Last Friday, the National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Festus Osifo, said the Nigerian government had restored the subsidy on petrol, despite the official government policy of ending the subsidy regime.
Mr Osifo, who is also the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), one of Nigeria's two largest workers union coalitions, while featuring on a Channels Television programme, Politics Today, said due to the cost of crude oil in the international market and the exchange rate, the government still pays subsidies on petrol.
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"The government has to come clean. In reality today, there is subsidy because as of when the earlier price was determined, the price of crude in the international market was somewhere around less than $80 a barrel. But today, it has moved to about $93/94 per barrel for Brent crude. So, because it has moved, then the price (of petrol) also needed to move," Mr Osifo said.
On Monday, the NNPCL said that the Nigerian government has not resumed payment of subsidy on petrol.
The NNPCL group chief executive officer, Mele Kyari, who disclosed this to State House correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, explained that the government was recovering its full costs from the imported products.
"No subsidy whatsoever. We are recovering our full cost from the products that we import. We sell to the market and we understand why the marketers are unable to import," Mr Kyari said.
"We hope that they do it very quickly and these are some of the interventions the government is doing. There is no subsidy."
Mr Kyari explained further that the government is doing so much to ensure the supply of FX into the market.
"We know that this FX market will stabilize and the current I&E window is around 770. And we know that with those inputs that are already happening, the inputs of the government today will crystallize and also they will come to an equilibrium position in the FX market and this is a dream of this country.
"So they will have a stable FX market, a stable product market where the prices of products will also speak to prices of other commodities. And this is already manifesting and we think this is the economic revolution that this country needs," he said.
