NNPC Increases Petrol Pump Price To N617 In Abuja And N568 In Lagos
…As fuel stations adjust petrol pump price in Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which is still the major importer of petroleum products into country, on Tuesday effected an upward review of the prices of petrol in Abuja, Jos and Lagos.
A visit round some of the Retail outlet of the NNPCL indicated that they are now selling fuel at N617 per litre in Abuja from the N537 it last sold the product on Monday.
Accordingly, Oil marketers in Abuja followed suit by adjusting their pump price of petrol to N617 per litre in Abuja.
Further checks indicated that the product’s new cost had a significant difference from the previous pump price of N537 per litre in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
This was as independent oil marketers confirmed the increase in the cost of the commodity, saying that any shift in price by the NNPCL stations was a clear indication of a rise in the pump price of petrol motor spirit (PMS).
Speaking to journalists on the development, Mohammed Shuaibu, who is the Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja zone, said that even though other marketers are gradually importing the commodity, the NNPCL remains the major importer of petrol into Nigeria presently.
Shuaibu said that the price this Tuesday morning at NNPCL stations is N617/litre in Abuja.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had during his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, announced the total removal of subsidy on petrol which immediately skyrocketed the price of the product from N198/litre to over N539/litre on May 30, 2023.
Following the removal of the subsidy on petrol and the subsequent floating of the Naira against the dollar, oil marketers had insisted that the cost of PMS which is fully dependent on importation may rise to as high as N700/litre.
In the same vein, the increase in the cost of crude oil in the international market has also exacerbated the hike in the price of petrol.
Motorists that had rushed to some filling stations in Abuja in the early hours of Tuesday to buy fuel at N540/litre were welcomed with the shock of the NNPCL new prices which most of the outlets stations quickly adjusted to meet the new price template.
The NNPCL and the downstream oil sector regulator did not issue any statement on the new price increase of petrol.
