Fuel price hike looms as NNPC warns depots against selling above N133.28/litre
Nigeria is inching close to usual fuel scarcity as global crude oil prices begin a steady upward movement.
However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has warned depot owners and their sister terminal operators not to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, above the official ex-depot price of N133.28k per litre.
The Corporation also cautioned petroleum products marketers not to sell the product above N145 per litre.
Recall that ex-depot price is the ceiling at which depot owners or terminal operators sell products to marketers, while the pump price of a product is the amount consumers buy it from fuel stations.
Already, oil prices rose on Monday, adding to gains in the first quarter when the major benchmarks posted their biggest increases in nearly a decade, as concerns about supplies outweigh fears of a slowing global economy.
Brent crude for June delivery was up by 43 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $68.01 a barrel by 0214 GMT, having risen 27 percent in the first quarter. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures rose 32 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $60.46 barrel, after posting a rise of 32 percent in the January-March period. U.S. sanctions on Iran and Venezuela along with supply cuts by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other major producers have helped support prices this year, overshadowing concerns about global growth and the U.S.-China trade war.
However, future gains will be limited by potential softness in the global economy as well as the ability of U.S. oil producers to ramp up production when prices spike, said Phin Ziebell, senior economist at National Australia Bank in Sydney. “It’s tough to see a really big rally from here,” he said.
Still, analysts have turned cautiously optimistic on crude oil prices this year, a Reuters poll showed recently.
In a terse statement made available to Business Hilights in Abuja by the NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, the Corporation averred that “The subsisting ex-depot petrol price of N133.28k per litre was consistent with the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency’s (PPPRA) template and should be adhered to”.
“Besides, NNPC held stock of over 1billion litres and imports of 48 vessels of 50million litres each have been committed for the month of April alone.
The Corporation therefore advised Nigerians to remain vigilant and volunteer information to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Industry regulator or to any law enforcement agency around them, on any station which sells petrol beyond N145 per litre in any part of the country from this month.
