Petrol Price Rises to N60 Per Ltr.

Petrol Price Rises to N60 Per Ltr.

The ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol rose from N55.50 per litre to N60 per litre at the weekend, as marketers scrambled for the small quantity of product that was available.

some depot owners were selling at N62 per litre at their gates, fueling speculations that the pump price at the filling stations would soon exceed N65 per litre, unless urgent steps are taken to bridge the widening supply gap, through massive importation.

Initially, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was selling PMS at N54.90 but later reduced the price to N54.60 per litre.

However, the private marketers were selling at N55.50 but later increased the price to N56 per litre, before it was further jerked up to N58.00.

Investigations revealed that the major marketers such as MRS, formerly Chevron; Oando; Total; Mobil; and Conoil were dispensing PMS only to their filling stations at the weekend, and were not selling to other marketers, because of depleting stock.

With the latest crisis, the average ex-depot price was N60 per litre at the weekend, while some private marketers selling at N62 per litre at the gates of their depots.

Some of the marketers blamed the situation on the delay in the approval of fourth quarter import allocation by the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

One of the marketers noted that the price hike would soon reflect at the filling stations, unless urgent steps were taken to boost importation of products.

“Some marketers who were taking the products to Ibadan bought at N62 per litre. Before they get to Ibadan, they will incur additional expenses of at least N2.50 per litre. The situation will affect the pump price because some people take products to far places, outside Lagos,” he said.

The price of PMS at the depots had earlier gone down recently, contrary to initial fears expressed in some quarters that the planned removal of subsidy could trigger crisis in the downstream and also encourage marketers to hoard petrol and hike the price.

It was feared that the government’s announcement of its plan to remove subsidy next year could trigger price hike as marketers could embark on rationing supply to take advantage of the impending deregulation.

Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigerian (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore, had also confirmed that there were products everywhere and assured that marketers would not hoard products.