The new petrol price of N125 per litre announced on Wednesday, 19th March, might be reconsidered in less than two weeks.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory (PPPRA) revealed that the new price would last temporarily till the end of March after which a new price would be adopted on 1st April.
The Executive Secretary, PPPRA, Mr. Abdulkadir Saidu, while addressing newsmen in Abuja, stated that the agency would be undertaking a review of PMS Price and would announce a new price for the commodity, April 1, 2020, if there is a change in the parameters used in determining the current price.
He also noted that petroleum prices review would be conducted on a monthly basis onwards.
“The approved price of N125 per litre comes into effect from today, which is going to be what we would apply till the end of the month. Then, from the 1st of April, PPPRA will be modulating a monthly price of petroleum products based on the market fundamentals. What the new pricing regime is going to be doing is going to be looking at the actual market price. It is going to be a reflection of what the market is doing,” he said.
“The way the market is going, this is N125 today, if by the end of March, the prices go below where they are today, then the Nigerian populace will be expected to pay less than N125. It is going to be a reflection of what the market is doing in any particular period,” he maintained.
“What we are trying to say is that going forward, the price will be a reflection of what the international market is doing. Normally, crude oil price determines the product price that we pay. Therefore, if the crude oil price moves, definitely, it is going to affect the price of PMS. If it goes down, Nigeria will pay lower,” he stated further.
He criticised oil marketers who failed to adopt the new price directive while debunking the speculation making the rounds that they were not involved before the price was decided.
“Any time there is price change, and there is tendency that these kinds of different position will come up, marketers usually want to take advantage of price increase. When there is price increase, everybody will jump and start selling at the increased price, but when you start selling at reduced price, everybody will start complaining,” he stated.
Mr. Saidu also assured that the Nigerian Government would always seek the involvement of oil marketers in policy-making. He also revealed that a conference had been arranged with the officials of petroleum marketing companies, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN; Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN; and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, DAPPMA.
