THE Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, in its latest report has shown that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC currently subsidises the cost of petrol by ₦19.37 per litre.
The report published on Tuesday also shows that Nigeria’s current daily consumption of petrol is valued at 55.8 million litres, while NNPC spends an average of ₦1.06 billion on every litre of petrol consumed in the country daily.
The landing cost of petrol for November 18 was ₦144.7 per litre, while the distribution margin was put at ₦19.37 per litre.
The total cost of petrol, adding the landing cost together with the distribution cost is ₦164.07 per litre but the NNPC takes the distribution costs off the private marketers as subsidy.
Petrol is sold at a fixed price of ₦145 per litre at filling stations across the country.
According to a Reuters report, the Senate in May had approved ₦129 billion as payment to cover debts to local oil firms related to a fuel subsidy programme.
For over two years, the NNPC has imported close to 90 per cent of the nation’s petrol because the difference between the price cap and international fuel costs made it expensive for private marketers to import the product.
In another development, the Group Managing Director, GMD, of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, at the 37th National Association of Petroleum Explorationists, NAPE, Conference & Exhibition in Lagos announced there will be a licensing round for ultra-deepwater assets next year.
“As we are all aware, the ultra-deepwater is completely unexplored today. Before the end of this year or next year, God willing, I believe there will be some form of bid rounds in that space,” he said.
Kyari said the nation’s crude oil reserves had fluctuated around 37 billion barrels in recent years due to stalled exploration, saying that there might be “a massive depletion in the available resources.”
He added that the amendment of the Deep Offshore Act was a requirement of law, saying the conditions required to make changes were met since 2003.
President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the bill amending the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Act earlier this month.
Amos Abba is a journalist with the International Center for Investigative Reporting, ICIR, who believes that courageous investigative reporting is the key to social justice and accountability in the society.
Something does not add up here. Who has monopoly over importation fuel in to Nigeria? Who calculates the landing cost, distribution cost etc.? Who calculates the subsidy? And, we are tackling corruption headlong? What a joke!