Worries as petrol sold for N179 per litre

The Federal Government stayed silent on Tuesday about a document detailing the costs of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, in several parts of Nigeria, causing uncertainty among PMS consumers. 

Although some downstream oil sector operators claimed that the fuel rates were approved by the government, many others refuted the claim, claiming that the document had yet to be officially certified. 

However, oil marketers warned that the paper may be used by the Federal Government to gauge public reaction to an official increase in petrol prices. 

The document, titled “PMS Pump Price Adjustment,” referred to the government-approved N165/litre petrol price as the “old price,” and went on to list the new prices for the commodity in different regions of Nigeria.

It outlined the new PMS pump costs per litre in these regions to be N179, N184, N189, and N179, respectively, for the South-West, North-West, North-East, and South-South. The commodity’s new per-litre rates in the North-Central, South-East, Abuja, and Lagos were set at N179, N184, N174, and N169, respectively.

The paper claimed that while the previous ex-depot price was N148.17/litre, the new prices in Lagos, Warri/Ogharra, and Port Harcourt were now N160-N162/litre, N162-N165/litre, and N165-N167/litre, respectively.

Commenting on the development, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, National Public Relations Officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, said that, while there was no official confirmation yet, the government might be trying to gauge public reaction through the document. “So that is the issue,” Ukadike continued, “and it is also due to the high cost of fuel and the scarcity of petroleum supplies.” All of these difficulties will be addressed if there is availability or the refineries are operational. “Therefore it is not just that the document on different prices came from NMDPRA, it did not come from them, but it is the reality in disguise, maybe the government is using it to test grounds, to know how the public will react.”

The NMDPRA, the price-fixing regulator for petroleum products, has been deafeningly silent on the recent increase in the price of petrol. It has also refused to sanction filling stations that charge more than the government-approved N165/litre pricing.