Petrol Price: Marketers Reveal Why Nigerians Are Yet to Feel FG’s Latest Move

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Petroleum marketers and retail outlet operators have explained why the Federal Government’s proposed petrol price reduction to N1,350 per litre has yet to take effect at filling stations across Nigeria.

ZINGTIE reports that the Minister of Finance, Taiwo Oyedele, announced a 30-day fuel discount last Thursday, setting the proposed price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, at N1,350 per litre at Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) filling stations.

However, several days after the announcement, some NNPCL outlets in Abuja increased their pump prices from N1,370 to N1,405 per litre.

A fresh market survey conducted by ZINGTIE on Monday, however, found that NNPCL outlets in Wuse Zones 4 and 6 had lowered their petrol prices to N1,370 per litre.

The findings indicated that none of the NNPCL filling stations visited by ZINGTIE was selling petrol at the proposed N1,350-per-litre rate at the time of reporting.

The development has fuelled uncertainty among Nigerians and motorists, who had expected the announced discount to translate into immediate relief at the pump.

The situation follows weekend increases of between N10 and N39 per litre at some other filling stations in Abuja.

The adjustments were introduced by MRS, AA Rano, Ranoil and other retailers operating in Abuja and surrounding areas, pushing petrol prices to between N1,370 and N1,410 per litre.

The National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association, Billy Gillis-Harry, attributed the fluctuations in domestic petrol prices to speculation following the Federal Government’s announcement of the proposed N1,350-per-litre discount.

He stressed that price instability could continue to affect consumers unless the government extended the intervention uniformly across the downstream petroleum sector.

Gillis-Harry noted that the proposed discount at NNPCL outlets alone would not necessarily bring an end to fluctuations in petrol prices.

He urged motorists and other Nigerians to remain calm, expressing confidence that prices would eventually settle.

“It is due to speculation. Right now, we have just one dominant refinery and some imports. So that is possible.

“​If demand is too high, it can affect price. There’s nothing to panic about. Eventually, the price will be stable,” he told ZINGTIE.

Meanwhile, the National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Maigandi, had earlier advised Nigerians against panic buying, assuring them that his members had adequate petrol supplies from the Dangote Refinery.

Maigandi also renewed his appeal to the Federal Government to extend the proposed discount to IPMAN members instead of restricting the arrangement to NNPCL filling stations.

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