By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The federal government has been urged to consider selling gas to local marketers in Naira just as it did with crude oil to domestic refiners.
Recall that the administration of President Bola Tinubu asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and others in Naira.
This deal is expected to kick off on October 1, 2024, and it is believed that it would impact the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.
In a statement, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), through its Director General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said a similar gas-for-Naira agreement would possibly bring down energy costs in the country.
The NECA chief noted that benchmarking the price of gas in Naira would support local industries, especially the manufacturing sector, praising the government for the crude-for-Naira deal, which he said would likely put an end to long petrol queues in the country and ease the pressure on the local currency due to the demand for foreign exchange (FX) to import the product.
“This singular event has the potential to change the perennial fuel scarcity situation in the county and also reduce the pressure on the Naira.
“This new direction would not only benefit the government, it would also have a massive impact on the business community and the Nigerian populace in general,” he stated.
Mr Oyerinde disclosed that while the current pump price was way above the expected price due to the dollar-denominated crude oil purchase, it was expected that the beginning of the crude-for-naira scheme agreed on from October 1, would cause a reduction in petrol pump price.
He stressed that the manufacturing sector had suffered significant production setbacks due to limited foreign exchange and instability in the naira, which had made it difficult to purchase adequate gas for production.
Mr Oyerinde said the sale of gas to domestic industries in US dollars does no good to the nation as it raises the production costs, which are passed on to consumers, who are battling with low purchasing power.