Petroleum marketers have blamed the continued hike in the price of petrol, on the inability of the Federal Government to make petroleum products sufficient for marketers in the country.

Rivers State Secretary of the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Ejike Jonathan said the dysfunctional state of refineries in the country had left private depot owners to be the only suppliers of petroleum products.

He said the shortage of supply by FG had created a gap in demand and supply.

Jonathan said, “Refineries ought to function optimally so that they can sell to retailers; private depot operators will now cushion the effect so that there will be equilibrium in the market. But rather than do that, the refineries are moribund.

“We now have an epileptic situation whereby the PDO’s are supplying to the marmot crowd. Now as I speak with you, we have only two PDO’s that have petroleum products. The transportation alone is almost N400,000.

“Some months ago, tanker drivers were charging within the range of 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 which is a multiplier effect and will affect demand and supply.”

Clarifying the reason for the difference in the price of petrol in various filling stations, Jonathan explained that petroleum marketers scout for products, including outside the state, and sell according to what they buy from private depots.

“People sell as they buy”, he said.