BREAKING: Fuel Price Hits N617 Per Litre, NNPCL Explains Why
The price of Petrol has increased to about N617 per litre.
A visit by Daily Trust correspondence to an NNPC filling station in the Central area of Abuja confirmed that the fuel price has now been adjusted from N539 to N617 per litre.
There have also been speculations that the price of petrol will hit N700 per litre soon.
Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, explained that the rise in petrol pump prices in Nigeria is due to market forces.
Addressing journalists after a closed-door meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the State House, Abuja, Kyari said,
“They are just prices depending on the market realities. This is the meaning of making sure that the market regulates itself. Prices will go up and sometimes they will come down also.”
However, he debunked notions that the price increase is due to a shortfall in petrol supply. He explained further:
“No, there is no supply issue. It is not a supply issue. When you go to the market, you buy the product, you come to the market and sell it at its prevailing market price.
It has nothing to do with supply. We don’t have supply issues. We have a robust supply. We’ve had over 32 days of supply in the country. That’s not a problem.”
READ ALSO: Fuel Price May Hit N1,000 By December – NLC Warns
On his part, the CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, attributed the price hike to global crude oil prices increase.
He also mentioned that changes in freight costs and other miscellaneous expenses that importers encounter during distribution contribute to price changes.
Ahmed said,
“Basically, what we’re seeing is the effect of market forces. You can see that crude oil prices have been on the rise. Just a week ago, crude oil prices hovered around $70 per barrel, but now it’s surpassed $80 per barrel. So naturally, these prices also influence the cost of the product.”
ALSO SEE: Fuel Subsidy Removal: FG, Labour Meeting Ends In Deadlock As Fuel Price Hits Over N700/Litre
Tuesday’s development was confirmed by independent oil marketers, who noted that price changes by NNPCL typically indicate a rise in the pump price of petrol, given that NNPCL remains the primary petrol importer in Nigeria.
“This is because NNPCL is still the major importer of petrol into Nigeria currently, though other marketers are gradually importing the commodity. The price this (Tuesday) morning at some NNPCL stations is N617/litre,”
the Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, told The PUNCH.
In his inaugural address on May 29, President Bola Tinubu announced the discontinuance of subsidy on petrol, a development which led to a jump in the price of the commodity from N198/litre to over N500/litre on May 30, 2023.