Petrol Marketers Insist on Hike in Fuel Price Amidst Hardship in Nigeria...See the Speculated Figure

 

A fresh investigation by Punch has revealed that fuel marketers are advocating for a further increment in the prices of petrol in Nigeria.

 

Findings stated that actual price at which the product should sell at filling stations is N151.87 per litre as against the N145 benchmark set by the Federal Government some months ago.

 

This “realistic” price is more than the maximum N145 per litre fixed by the Federal Government on May 11, 2016 when it liberalised the downstream oil sector, marketers with knowledge of the market and the pricing mechanism told a correspondent on Tuesday.

 

A need for the significant increment in the price of fuel was necesssitated by the scarcity of dollar in Nigeria which is needed for the importation of refined products. The marketers averred that the true price of petrol was N151.87 litre, judging by the current ex-depot price of the commodity.

 

There is a grave fear among Nigerians that an increase in the price of petrol will further complicate the problem of inflation in Nigeria thereby increasing the already scathing economic hardship.

In Tuesday’s exclusive report by the newspaper on a looming hike in petrol price, dealers explained that the ex-depot price of the product was N133.28 per litre and that the marketers were doing their best to manage the situation.

They stressed that the dollar hit an all-time high last week, as it exchanged for N400 at the parallel market, and called for urgent steps to address the situation in order to sell the PMS at the approved rates.

In a move to avert a price increase, it was learnt that the government conveyed a meeting of stakeholders in the downstream oil sector on Tuesday, which was held at the headquarters of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency in Abuja.

A correspondent gathered that participants at the meeting included officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the PPPRA, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, Nigeria Association of Road Transport Owners, as well as other concerned persons.

Explaining that the actual cost of the PMS had increased beyond the N145 per litre fixed rate, an oil dealer who attended the meeting stated that when the distribution margin for petrol was added to the ex-depot price, the real cost of the commodity was N151.87 per litre.