Oil Marketers Adjust Pump Price Of Petrol To N161 Per Liter

Oil Marketers on Thursday adjusted their pump price of Premium Motor Spirit from N148.5 per liter to about N161 per liter.

The adjustment in price by the marketers followed the increase announced on Wednesday by the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, of the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, to N151.56 per litre.

The PPMC, which is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, raised the price from N138.62 per litre which it was previously to the new price of N151.56 per liter.

This was disclosed in an internal memo to all stakeholders with reference number PPMC/IB/LS/020 dated September 2, 2020.

The ex-depot price is the price at which the product is sold to marketers at the depots.

The PPPRA had raised the depot price as a result of increase in the international price of the Brent Crude from $43.24 per barrel in July to $45.76 per barrel as at the end of August.

Findings by THE WHISTLER showed that many of the filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory and it’s environs have raised their pump price to between N160 per liter to N162 per liter.

For instance, at Oando filling station in Bwari, the price of petrol was pegged at N161.5 per liter while that of NIPCO within the same axis was pegged at N160 per liter.

Further findings revealed that the product was sold for N161.7 per liter at Total filling station in Area 3 and that of Lugbe.

At A.A.Rano along the Mararaba axis in Nasarawa State, the product was sold for N161.50.

Within the last three months, the price of petrol had been on an upward trend due to the increase in the international price of crude oil.

For instance, the price of PMS was raised from N124 in June to N143 in July before hitting N148 per liter in the month of August.

The implication of the persistent increase in fuel price is that the cost of living for Nigerians would rise because the cost of such increase would ultimately be transferred to consumers when paying for goods and services.

Transporters will also use the opportunity of an upward adjustment to increase the price of transportation.

The same goes to prices of goods and services.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had said that the government was mindful of the likely impact higher PMS prices would have on Nigerians, adding that to alleviate this, the government was working very hard to roll out the auto-gas scheme.

This, he stated, would provide Nigerians with alternative sources of fuel and at a lower cost.

According to Sylva, when crude oil prices were down, government, through its regulatory functions ensured that the benefits of lower crude oil prices were enjoyed by Nigerians by ensuring that PMS price was lowered.

He added that at that time, the government indicated that increase in crude oil prices would also reflect at the pumps.

He blamed fuel subsidy for the low refining capacity in the country, noting that subsidy made it impossible to attract the much-needed investments into the refining sector.

He said, “This is a necessary action taken by a responsible government in the overall interest of Nigerians. Indeed, one of the reasons we have been unable to attract the level of investments we desire into the refining sector has been the burden of fuel subsidy.

“We need to free up that investment space so that what happened in the banking sector, aviation sector and other sectors can happen in the midstream and downstream oil sector.

“We can no longer avoid the inevitable and expect the impossible to continue. There was no time Government promised to reduce pump price and keep it permanently low.”