While Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and other oil marketers have not officially announced a petrol price increase, there are growing concerns that the scarcity of foreign exchange and the rise in crude oil prices may influence the cost of fuel.
The cost jumped again to over N600/litre in July, and there were concerns that it might rise further in August, going by the crash of the naira against the dollar.
The naira dropped to N950 against the dollar on Thursday at the parallel market. It also fell against the US dollar at the official Importers and Exporters forex window.
Also on Thursday, Brent, the global benchmark for crude oil, was traded at about $87/barrel. It traded for less than $80/barrel few weeks ago.
An Abuja resident, Collins Nnabude, stated, “The crash of the naira against the dollar and the recent rise in crude oil price is making one apprehensive when you consider the effect on petrol price in Nigeria. Fuel price is likely going to rise again this month.”
Oil marketers also confirmed the possibility of another hike in petrol price this month.
The President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said, “So long as the naira is losing against the dollar, the price of petrol in our retail outlets will continue to increase.”
He called on Tinubu to make sure that Nigeria’s refineries were put back to use.
“We have requested that the President should declare a state of emergency on our refineries in order to speed up their repairs,” he said.
“That is the one sure way to go, in order to be able to predict the price of petroleum products, because for now, every PMS you buy in any retail outlet is dollarised.”
Also speaking on the development, the National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Okonkwo, said the downstream oil sector had been fully deregulated and, the cost of PMS would continue to fluctuate.
“When there is deregulation and no subsidy, the price of petrol would either go up or come down. But if you want to profiteer, those who bring in and sell at cheaper rates would put you out of business.”
