By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government has announced the full deregulation of the petroleum industry in Nigeria, saying oil marketers were free to purchase their products from any source.
Before now, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited was the sole importer of premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, into the country and was the only organisation authorized to buy the product from the Dangote Refinery in Lagos.
However, with the latest development, other oil marketers can approach the private refinery for petrol and sell it to its customers.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, said in a statement that the NNPC will now begin to sell crude oil to local refiners in Naira.
In the statement signed by him after a meeting of the technical sub-committee to develop the framework for crude oil sale to local refineries in Naira held on Thursday, the Minister said the sector is now fully deregulated to allow for competition.
Recall that on Wednesday, the national oil firm increased the price of petrol at its retail stations in Lagos from N855 per litre to N998 per litre and in Abuja to N1,030 per litre.
Details later.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Adedapo Adesanya