Amid a nationwide hardship, The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has officially increased the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol. The company has raised the price officially from N165 per litre to a maximum of N184 per litre, effective today (Tuesday).
The pump price adjustment also comes with that of the ex-depot price, the NNPC told marketers in a list it released.
The NNPC, in a notice to fuel marketers, mandated them to start selling with the new rate from today.
AFRIPOST observes that most filling stations in Abuja sold between 185 to 200 since last week. Most residents of the nation’s capital who drove to filling stations hoping to buy at the normal rate were shocked. The nation’s capital had since April 2022 been faced with scarcity of the product.
NNPC equally increased the ex-depot price from N148.17 to a maximum of N167 per litre.
Industry sources told teh Eagle Online that, based on the official exchange rate of N422 to $1, the landing cost of PMS is N430 per litre. But for those who buy dollars at the black market, the least they can bring in petrol is over N600 per litre.
A source in the industry told the medium that: “You can see that the situation is a very serious one.
“With the new approved prices now, the government is subsidising the balance, which is why the subsidy is over N4 trillion already this year.
“The argument that the prices would be lower if we refine locally is not entirely true.
“The production cost will still be high
“One, we should pray that the Russia-Ukraine war should end.
“Then a stop should be put to pipeline vandalisation, which is a long-term solution anyway, which will help us to boost our crude production.
“Then, we should cut down on our import of consumable products to check capital flight.”
The new pump prices approved has regional differences. for the South West, it is N179, an increment of N14 from the original price of N165.
The North West and South East have a new price band of N184, meaning an increment of N19 for the two zones.
For the North East, it is an increment of N24, with NNPC Limited approving sale of petrol at N189, which is the highest in the country.
The South-South and North Central, like the South West, have a new approved sales price of N179, meaning an increase of N14.
Abuja has an increase of N9, which means petrol will sell at N174, while in Lagos, the product is to be sold for N169, an increase of N4.
For the ex-depot price, the NNPC also made price adjustments across three areas from the flat rate of N148.17.
In Lagos, raw ex-depot price will be between N160 and N162.
For Warri/Oghara, the ex-depot price is between N162 and N165, while it will sell for between N165 and N167 in Port Harcourt.
