The cost of importing Premium Motor Spirit into Nigeria surged by more than 60 per cent between December 2020 and mid-June 2021, although the pump price of the product remained was untouched.
Petrol landing cost presently stands at N231.98 per litre, as against an average of N143.60 per litre in December because of a rise in global oil prices and the depreciation of the naira against the dollar.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency had in March this year released a pricing template that indicated the guiding prices for the month.
The template, which showed that the petrol pump price was expected to range from N209.61 to N212.61 per litre, was greeted with widespread public outcry and was later deleted by the agency from its website.
The pump price of petrol has remained at between N162 and N165 per litre at many filling stations in Lagos since December.
Last month, the Central Bank of Nigeria devalued the naira as it adopted the NAFEX exchange rate of N410.25 per dollar as its official exchange rate, days after removing the N379/$ rate from its website.
The National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr Mike Osatuyi, told PUNCH that deregulation of the oil sector is the way forward for the country.
He said, “As long as the price of crude oil continues to rise and the pump prices of petrol remain the same in Nigeria, the subsidy will increase and petrol smuggling will continue.”
