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The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has explained why the Federal Government cannot directly determine the price of petrol in Nigeria.

Lokpobiri said the full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector means petrol prices are largely influenced by developments in the international oil market rather than government intervention.

The minister made the disclosure while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday.

According to him, “The Bola Tinubu government doesn’t have any power to reduce or increase the price of petrol. It is completely deregulated in line with global best standards.”

He explained that crude oil and refined petroleum products are traded internationally, making it difficult for the Nigerian government to impose a fixed pump price without reintroducing fuel subsidies.

“Crude oil and refined products are a global business. Nigeria doesn’t exist in isolation. You cannot arbitrarily reduce prices unless you want to roll back to subsidy,” he said.

Lokpobiri spoke while reacting to a proposal by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the introduction of a production subsidy that would enable Nigerians to buy locally refined petrol at a lower price.

The minister rejected the proposal, arguing that Atiku’s suggestion lacked legal, fiscal and financial justification.

He also disagreed with the argument that petrol refined within Nigeria should automatically be sold at a significantly cheaper price, particularly with the Dangote Refinery now producing petroleum products locally.

According to Lokpobiri, crude oil supplied to Nigerian refineries is still priced according to prevailing international market conditions, meaning local refining does not eliminate global pricing considerations.

“They sell crude to the refinery at the same global price,” he said.

However, the minister maintained that Nigerians are already benefiting from domestic refining through improved product availability and relatively lower petrol prices compared with some other countries.

“We already benefit. That’s why our price is lower than that of the U.S.,” Lokpobiri said.

He added that the United States, despite being one of the world’s major crude oil producers and having substantial refining capacity, still sells petrol at prices above Nigeria’s average pump price.

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