THE ongoing US-Iran conflict has driven up global oil prices, with filling stations in Nigeria raising pump prices to nearly N1,000/litre.
The increase comes amid sharp rises in global crude oil benchmarks as brent crude futures surpassed $80 per barrel on Tuesday and are currently trading at around $84.2 per barrel.
Checks by The ICIR revealed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other filling stations have effected a hike in petrol pump price.
Further findings revealed that NNPCL retail outlets in Abuja on Tuesday revealed that petrol price was adjusted upward to N960 per litre, up from N875 sold on Monday.
This means that the state-owned oil firm jerked up its pump price by N85 per litre.
The new price was implemented in NNPCL filling stations on the Kubwa Expressway, Gwarimpa, Wuse Zone 6, Zone 4, and other outlets across the city.
Similarly, other outlets increased their fuel pump price to between N950 and N980 per litre.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, told The ICIR that petrol sold for N930 per litre in parts of the country’s South and above N1,050 in several parts of the North, including Sokoto, Katsina and Gombe states.
The ICIR reported that Nigerians would experience a hike in fuel prices as Dangote Refinery hiked its gantry price following an increase in global oil prices occasioned by hostilities in the Middle East.
Both the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) had confirmed that fuel prices would go up from Tuesday.
PETROAN’s National President, Billy Gills-Harry, warned that continued volatility in crude prices would further strain consumers and businesses already grappling with economic challenges.
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.