The Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria ,CORAN, has called on the Federal Government to peg the foreign exchange rate at N1,000 per dollar in other to bring down the price of petrol from Dangote Refinery to below N600 per litre.
While most observers sees the demand as a gimmicks by oil majors to divert attention from the real issues, CORAN spokesperson, Eche Idoko, said the call was in the light of the recent surge in petrol prices, which have risen to between N950 and N1,100 per litre across the country.
Idoko said the current high prices reflect the ongoing fluctuation of the naira and the cost of crude oil on the international market.
He stated that government intervention through the pegging of the exchange rate for locally refined products could lead to a significant reduction in the price of petrol.
Idoko said, “For instance, you can say, you are using N1,000 as an exchange rate for this dollar deal, for the locally refined petroleum products. And like that, you will see a significant drop in the price.
“As it is right now, this pricing you see is a reflection of what the price will look like if there is no intervention at all, because of how the naira is doing and because of what crude is doing in the international market.
“But if the government intervenes by way of naira sales and pegging the dollar exchange rate for crude transactions at a reasonably low rate, you will see an improvement.
“This is different from paying money as a subsidy. You are only just putting mechanisms in place to ensure the product is cheap. “
