A report published on Global Petrol Prices has ranked Nigeria as the 22nd country with the cheapest petrol price globally as of January 1, 2024.
According to the document, Nigeria sold the product for $0.722 per litre, which was N648.93 at Nigerian exchange rate to the dollar.
The report is a product of survey of prices of petrol in more than 150 countries.
It disclosed that the country with the lowest petrol price was Iran, which sold petrol for N25.72 per litre.
Meanwhile, countries like Hong Kong, Monaco and Iceland sold the product as high as N2,000 to N2,500 per litre.
The report titled “Global Petrol Prices, Octane-95, January 1, 2024′, said, the average price of gasoline around the world was 1.29 US Dollars per litre.
The ICIR reports that this was about N1164.69 at the official exchange rate.
However, there is a substantial difference in these prices among countries, said the report.
“As a general rule, richer countries have higher prices while poorer countries and the countries that produce and export oil have significantly lower prices. One notable exception is the U.S. which is an economically advanced country but has low gas prices.
“The differences in prices across countries are due to the various taxes and subsidies for gasoline. All countries have access to the same petroleum prices of international markets but then decide to impose different taxes. As a result, the retail price of gasoline is different,” the report said.
Since the removal of the fuel subsidy in Nigeria on May 29, 2023, by President Bola Tinubu, the price of petrol has increased by over 300 per cent.
Before he suspended the subsidy (on the day he took over power), the product had sold for N195.
The increase has since affected economic growth, including inflation on household needs and other products.
Tinubu said that the country saved one trillion naira two months after the subsidy removal.
According to the Global Petrol Prices report, African countries like Libya, Algeria, Angola, Egypt and Malaysia were ranked among the first 10 countries with the cheapest petrol prices, selling between N28 to N402 per litre.
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at jameskennyogunyale@gmail or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames | LinkedIn: Kehinde Ogunyale