A survey conducted in Lagos on Thursday morning showed that the Private Fuel Marketers have yet to reduce the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to N125 per litre as directed by the Federal Government.
While retail stations belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation complied with the government’s directive and have started selling at N125 per litre, the private marketers are still selling at N145 per litre of petrol as at the time of filing this report.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a top official of one of the fuel marketers’ association said, “What we are asking the government is that: who is going to pay us the difference between the old price and the new price on our old stock? And without them verifying our old stock and telling us what they will pay us and when they will pay us, we will not load.”
According to him, marketers would continue to sell the product at the old rate pending when the issues would be resolved.
“Marketers are holding their strategy session. We will have a common front. The GMD (of NNPC) has invited us for a stakeholders’ meeting, which should have been done before the announcement of the new price. By the end of today, we will have a clearer picture of how they are going to involve us,” he added.
In a statement, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said that the Federal Government had noted on Wednesday that the drop in crude oil prices had lowered the expected open market price of imported petrol below the official pump price of N145 per litre. Therefore, Mr President has approved that Nigerians should benefit from the reduction in the price of PMS which is a direct effect of the crash in global crude oil prices.
The Minister further stated that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency would subsequently issue a monthly guide to the NNPC and marketers on the appropriate pricing regime.
Speaking on the issue, The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, said the corporation had reviewed its ex-coastal, ex-depot and NNPC retail pump prices in compliance with the directives of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, on the pricing of PMS.
“Effective March 19, 2020, NNPC ex-coastal price for PMS has been reviewed downwards from N117.6/litre to N99.44/litre while the ex-depot price is reduced from N133.28/litre to N113.28/litre, he said.
According to Mallam Kyari, these reductions translate to N125/litre retail pump price. “Despite the obvious cost implication of this immediate adjustment to the corporation, NNPC is delighted to effect this massive reduction of N20/litre for the benefit of all Nigerians.”
