RETAIL outlets owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) have reportedly adjusted upward the pump price of the Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, to as high as N990 per litre.
The upward adjustment was effected across most of the NNPCL’s filling stations on Tuesday, January 21, nationwide.
The NNPCL retail outlet adjusted their pump price of petrol from N965 to N990 in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and from N925 to N960 per litre in Lagos.
Its new price adjustment is N20 higher than the N970 retail price the Dangote Refinery announced that all its partners would sell a pump price of petrol.
The ICIR reports that the occasional adjustments in pricing is necessitated by the petrol subsidy removal policy of President Bola Tinubu-led administration, which had seen Nigerians pay higher amount without government’s price interventions.
In a statement on Sunday, January 19, the Dangote Refinery said its partners, including Ardova, Heyden, and MRS Holdings, would offer petrol to Nigerians at a retail price of N970 per litre nationwide.
“We have absorbed the increased logistics costs to guarantee uniform pricing across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” Dangote refinery stated.
It said further that it had made a five per cent adjustment to its ex-depot price from N899.50 to N950 per litre, adding that the increase was lower than the percentage rise in crude at the international market.
The Dangote refinery had also hinted at raising its loading gantry petrol price from N899/litre to N955/litre.
“It is important to note that this increase is considerably lower than the 15% rise in global crude oil prices, which has seen Brent Crude rise from $70 to $82 in a matter of days, in addition to the premium for Nigerian crude (approximately $3 per barrel) in international markets. Furthermore, Dangote Refinery has maintained the Single-Point Mooring (SPM) ex-vessel price at N895 per litre,” it stated.
The recent price adjustment came as Brent crude oil futures rose to $81 on Friday, January 17 before dropping to $79.84 per barrel on Tuesday, January 20, which many experts believe was influenced by United States President Donald Trump’s inauguration in the hope of some clarity on his policy agenda.
While the NNPCL retail outlets have adjusted their pump price of petrol to almost N1,000 per litre, similarly, major and independent marketers have also increased their petrol pump prices to as high as N1,030 from about N990 per litre.
The ICIR reported on Friday, January 17 that the national president of the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy-Gillis-Harry, had hinted at the recent marginal price adjustments in most of its retail outlets across the country, following the current global spike in the price of Brent crude.
However, there was a need for the regulatory bodies to monitor the price adjustments to forestall possible incidences of quasi-market dominance, an oil sector governance expert, Adeola Adenikinju, had told The ICIR.
“The regulatory authorities must find a way to ensure price control powers are not usurped by an individual but determined by market forces,” he said.