By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to adjust the price of fuel to reflect the present global market realities.
According to a briefing from the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the new pump price of petrol is now N125 per litre, from N145 per litre.
The President, Mr Muhammadu Buhari, ordered that the adjustment to take effect from Thursday, March 19, 2020.
Giving the directive on behalf of the President, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, told newsmen that compliance by petroleum marketers is to be enforced by the National Oil company and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA)
The Minister also noted that the price slash will affect all other end product from crude such as diesel, kerosene, and gas prices, adding that their prices are also to be set by the PPPRA and the NNPC.
He further revealed that the ministry was also adopting a price modulation mechanism for price of petroleum products to be regulated as the market dictates.
Following the drop in crude oil price as a result of the coronavirus outbreak and an oil war sparked by Saudi Arabia and Russia, the PPPRA indicated in its daily price template that the landing cost of a litre of petrol has steadily declined in relation to this.
In its latest agency report, it was stated that on March 11, its calculations for the Expected Open Market Price (EOMP) for a litre of petrol was N112.26 while the ex-depot price was N125.63.
At the official pump price of N145 per litre, the calculation indicated a N32.74 over-recovery for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is currently the sole importer of petrol in the country.
Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr Mele Kyari, in a statement on Wednesday night, in compliance government’s directive, its Ex-Coastal price for PMS has been reviewed downwards from N117.6/litre to N99.44/litre while Ex-Depot price is reduced from N133.28/litre to N113.28/litre.
“Despite the obvious cost implication of this immediate adjustment to the corporation, NNPC is delighted to effect this massive reduction of N20/litre for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“Accordingly, all NNPC Retail stations nationwide have been directed to change the retail pump price to N125/litre,” he said.
