The recent surge in Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), also known as diesel and Jet A1 (aviation fuel), has been attributed by oil marketers under the aegis of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) to the difficulty in obtaining foreign exchange and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
This was revealed in Lagos by MOMAN’s Executive Secretary, Clement Isong, who also stated that the war between Russia and Ukraine has resulted in a rise in world crude oil prices.
The invasion on Ukraine by Russia, according to Isong, has resulted in a spike in the price of crude oil and all of its derivatives, including diesel and aviation fuel.
“The prolonged battle has led crude oil prices to rise throughout the world, it has reached a peak of $130 per barrel. The issue is that even if you have the funds, they are difficult to come by”. He added.
“Marketers are having trouble locating items and importing them into the nation. Then there’s the matter of gaining access to currency, which has proven to be difficult for marketers”.
“So, when you combine these two factors, you’ll see why we’re experiencing this difficulty.”
Isong, who stated that major marketers have virtually finished mixing off-spec gasoline, claimed that the methanol has been effectively blended out and is now on-spec.
“We’re virtually done with the off-spec petrol mixing, we’ve virtually done blending for the bulk of MOMAN members. We were able to successfully blend out the methanol, and it is now within specification.” he claimed.
He explained that the lingering petrol scarcity was caused by supply gaps triggered by the removal of off-spec petrol from the market, but that these gaps had been exacerbated by other factors such as the product’s availability on the international market and the high cost of diesel, which made transportation of petroleum products expensive for marketers.
