THE pricing competition among petroleum marketers continued this week as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) reduced its petrol prices across its retail outlets to N865 per litre in Lagos and N890 per litre in Abuja.
The reduction noticed on Friday, August 15, came two days after Dangote Petroleum Refinery reduced its price to N820 per litre.
Dangote Refinery’s Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, announced the reduction in a statement on Tuesday, August 12.
The cut in the ex-depot price, also known as the gantry price, represented a N30 reduction from N850 per litre.
However, the NNPCL’s price slash represents a N10 cut in Lagos and Abuja, from the previous N875 per litre and N900 per litre, respectively.
The ICIR reporter observed that the product was sold for N865 per litre in Lagos and N890 per litre in Abuja.
Further checks by The ICIR revealed that some NNPCL filling stations have yet to commence sales, with some still unprepared to dispense, citing downward pricing fluctuations and unsold old stocks.
For instance, the NNPCL retail outlet on Arab Road, Kubwa, and the one near the Directorate of Road Traffic Services (hDRTS) headquarters, in Mabushi area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), did not sell.
One of the pump attendants, Memunat Abdullahi, told our reporter that her station was expecting a directive from the management.
At the NNPC outlet in Abule Ado in Lagos, the price of petrol dropped to N865 per litre.
Similarly, at the NNPCL outlet at Federal Housing Authority, Kubwa, the commodity’s price dropped to N890 per litre.
On August 6, the NNPCL reduced petrol price at its retail outlets to N875 per litre in Lagos and N900 in Abuja.
This came two days after the national oil company hike the product’s price to N915 per litre and N955 per litre in both cities.
On August 12, Dangote Petroleum Refinery reduced its petrol price to N820 per litre — six days after increasing the price to N850.
The refinery also said it had started deploying 4,000 compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered trucks for fuel distribution nationwide from August 15.
Although some filling station retail outlets are still selling within N930-N960, the price competition is a result of the deregulation of the petroleum upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors, which allows market forces to determine prices.
On Monday, August 4, the NNPCL sold N950+/litre in most of its retail outlets in Abuja, dropping its price barely 48 hours later to N900 per litre, reported, The ICIR.
The ICIR reports that global movement of crude oil prices in the international market are key factors affecting the price drop in filling stations.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.