The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has stated that the price of crude oil on the global market continues to be a factor that significantly influences changes in fuel pump pricing.
He claimed that the government no longer sets prices in the downstream industry, which is now completely deregulated.
The minister made these remarks during the Petroleum Industry Stakeholders Forum’s first meeting, which took place in Abuja on Thursday.
According to reports, there have been new worries about a possible rise in petrol costs after Brent, the world’s benchmark for crude oil, surpassed $80 per barrel.
Petrol and other refined petroleum products now cost N950 a litre to load at private depots as of Monday.
Nevertheless, the meeting’s marketers reassured attendees that the increase in petrol prices would not happen overnight.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Lokpobiri emphasised that deregulation put an end to any wrongdoing related to the policy of tax subsidies for petrol.
Since market forces, rather than a person, determine and anticipate petrol prices, he claims that the government is now more concerned with quality control.
According to him, “the goal of deregulation is for prices to stabilise. You would have agreed with me before today that you receive bad news about petrol subsidies every day.
“Due to strict regulation and price stabilisation, you journalists don’t have any bad news today regarding petrol subsidies.
“Petrol will cost more when oil prices rise, and it will cost more when oil prices fall. When I visited Bayelsa over the Christmas season, I made an effort to visit several petrol stations.
“Additionally, some filling stations sold N1,020, while others sold N999 and N1,015, respectively.
“The government’s greater interest in quality control is what we are worried about, and I have always discussed this with you and the Authority Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. The distribution of the appropriate amount is of special importance to the government, which is primarily concerned with availability.
“If you purchase ten litres of PMS, make sure the retail filling station does not undercut you. That’s where our problems lie. Additionally, individuals have options when there is competition, which is why there are never queues.”
However, Abubakar Maigandi, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, credited the cooperation with the Dangote refinery for the present drop in petrol prices.
He claimed that since late last year, association members have started loading petrol from the Dangote refinery next to the MRS filling station, which has decreased the retail price of petrol nationwide.
“As with the MRS, we have been loading with the Dangote refinery,” he stated.
“We sell for N935 per litre, which is consistent pricing throughout the nation due to an agreement between MRS, Dangote, and independent marketers. As a result, we can provide our products at a lesser price than other marketers.”
