Nigeria may witness a fresh price hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol as President Bola Tinubu, who doubles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, struggles to keep supply of the commodity amidst denial of subsidy payment.
As the market gets tighter, marketers are already adjusting their pump prices yesterday as the rate hovered around N690 to above N700 per litre in Abuja from the official figure of N617.
While the pump price has risen to above N1,000 per litre in some states, especially in the North that are far from the depots, president of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Mai Gandi Shettima, told The Guardian that the ex-depot price is already rising to between N790 and N800 per litre.
“Marketers will need to add their margins and make profits. There is nothing they can do about that, the price will go up,” Shettima insisted. But the Association of Nigeria Petroleum Refineries Marketers (ANPRM) in a petition said the marketers are taking advantage of the prevailing situation. In a petition to the Inspector General of Police, dated May 3, 2024, the association said while NNPC imports and allocate petrol with prices being fixed and regulated by same, various tank farms are selling above N700 a litre, while individual fuel station sell between N730/800 a litre, as the case may be.
Some marketers, who pleaded anonymity, said all is currently not well with the supply of the products in the country, noting that the Federal Government is struggling to ensure that supply does not totally run dry.
They noted that marketers are being forced to increase their prices before the current pump price is no longer sustainable.While the Federal Government continued to denied return of subsidies which President Bola Tinubu claimed was removed, The Guardian had reported that Nigeria is currently paying about N907.5 billion as petrol subsidy monthly even as NNPC maintained sole importation of the white products.
Earlier this month, there were indications that was unable to pay oil traders $3 billion as a number of oil traders told Reuters that while the NNPC was gradually clearing the backlog, over $3 trillion is yet to be paid.
The traders noted that instead of the agreed 90 days, the payment was taking as much as within 130 days. While the last official increase in the pump price pegged the price at N617 per litre in Abuja, marketers have gradually increased their pump prices by over N80 with the Federal Government looking away.
NNPC in a release yesterday however insisted that there is over 1.5 billion litres stock of PMS in the country.
The oil company urged Nigerias to shun panic buying of the product, adding that the queues have since thinned out, a development that would keep improving daily in other states.
“The NNPC Ltd is also collaborating with relevant downstream agencies, such as the Nigeran Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), labour unions in the sector and security operatives to address hoarding and other unwholesome practices,” NNPC said.