PENGASSAN Reacts To Hike In Petrol Prices As Tension Escalates In Middle East
Depots have hiked the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) after the escalating tension in the Middle East jerked up the prices of crude oil. The rise was also linked to a strike by tanker drivers along the Lekki-Epe corridor in Lagos.
This came as the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Festus Osifo, accused oil marketers of exploiting Nigerians through inflated petrol prices, insisting that the current pump price of PMS should range between N700 and N750 per litre.
According to Petroleumprice.ng, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s petrol price rose from N825 to N840 on Monday. Rainoil’s price surged by N50, from N850 to N900 per litre. It was also reported that Fynefield and Mainland jerked their ex-depot prices to N930 and N920, adding N51 and N63 respectively.
As of Monday, Sigmund was selling at N920 per litre; Matrix Warri’s price was N910; NIPCO jumped to N895 from N827 last week, while Aiteo sold petrol at the rate of N840, as shown by Petroleumprice.com.
The rise in ex-depot prices is an indication that a litre of fuel might cost close to N1,000 per litre in the coming days. The Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, told our correspondent that the increase could be a result of the rise in crude prices.
However, a depot operator said the price changes could be due to the refusal of tanker drivers to load petrol on Monday because of the N12,500 E-Call Up fee.
The operator, who pleaded not to be mentioned due to a lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, told our correspondent that the issue of price was secondary at the moment, as there was no fuel loading on Monday.
He stated that unless the government settled the crisis arising from the E-Call Up system, Nigeria might witness another fuel scarcity soon.
Reports have it that Nigeria’s major crude grades—Bonny Light, Brass River, and Qua Iboe—rose to $77 per barrel on Friday and sustained the rise till Monday, following Israel’s military strikes on Iran, heightening fears of a wider Middle East conflict.
According to data from Oilprice.com as of Monday, Bonny Light stood at $78.62 per barrel, while Brass River and Qua Iboe closed at approximately $77.
The rally marked a sharp jump from the average of $65 per barrel recorded just days earlier. The new price levels exceed the Federal Government’s 2025 budget benchmark of $75 per barrel by about $2, potentially offering short-term fiscal relief.
However, energy analysts warn that higher crude prices could trigger an increase in local fuel prices, as refiners face rising costs for crude, the primary feedstock for petrol and diesel production.
Speaking on the controversy between tanker drivers and the Lagos State Government, MEMAN’s Isong asked the government to reach an agreement with stakeholders to avoid the shortage of fuel.
Isong agreed with the tanker drivers that the N12,500 being demanded by the government would trigger another fuel price hike, saying Nigerians were already going through a lot.
PENGASSAN raise concern
PENGASSAN president, Osifo, claimed that the recurring shutdowns of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries were driven more by political motives than operational challenges.
He also accused oil marketers of exploiting Nigerians through inflated petrol prices, insisting that the current pump price of PMS should range between N700 and N750 per litre.
Speaking at a world press conference on Nigeria’s Oil and Gas industry and state of the nation on Monday in Abuja, Osifo said the inefficiencies plaguing Nigeria’s refineries, especially the Port Harcourt Refinery, may not be due to technical shortcomings but stem largely from political interference.
Osifo noted that despite billions of naira totalling $2.5bn sunk into rehabilitation efforts over the years, the nation’s refineries have remained largely unproductive, with shutdowns frequently occurring under questionable circumstances.
Recall that the state-owned firm announced a temporary shutdown of the Port-Harcourt refinery for 30 days over maintenance activities. The facility is expected to be back on stream next week on Tuesday.
Osifo said, “On the state of the refinery, we are aware, as of today, that our refinery, most especially Port-Harcourt refinery, was shut down. And the reasons they gave were that they wanted to carry out periodic maintenance.
“But also the fact that in those refineries today, as you have known and as has been reported widely, the level of efficiency of those refineries is not optimal. So we are calling on the government and the handlers of the refineries, the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, to look at the full scope of the refineries, to look at the operational model of the refineries and to yield to the time-tested call that we have made in PENGASSAN. The call that we have made for over 15 years now.”
Speaking further, the union president accused petroleum marketers of exploiting Nigerians through inflated petrol prices, insisting that the current pump price of Premium Motor Spirit should range between N700 and N750 per litre.
He criticised the disparity between falling global crude oil prices and the stagnant retail price of petrol in Nigeria. He said that despite crude prices dropping from about $80 to $60 per barrel, petrol continues to sell at around N900 per litre.
A litre of petrol currently sells between N875 to N905 per litre, depending on location nationwide.
“In the downstream today, in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, we have seen a trend,” Osifo said. “When the price per litre of petrol was around N900, crude oil was selling at about $80 per barrel. Today, with crude hovering between $62 and $65, there has been no commensurate reduction in the pump price.”
Osifo attributed the pricing inconsistency to the failure of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to effectively monitor and regulate pricing under the deregulation framework.
“NMDPRA should not watch the suppliers of products exploit the citizenry on the pretence of deregulation,” he said. Explaining the pricing mechanism, Osifo stated that crude oil prices and the exchange rate account for about 80 per cent of the final retail price of PMS.
Based on prevailing international pricing benchmarks, he said the cost of fuel should have adjusted downward. “There is what we call PLAT,” he said, referring to Platts’ oil price benchmark. “If you go online and check the PLAT cost per cubic metre of PMS, convert that to litres and then to our Naira, you will see that with crude at around $60 per barrel, petrol should be retailing between N700 and N750 per litre.”
He called on NMDPRA to immediately begin publishing pricing templates to ensure transparency and to prevent arbitrary pricing under the deregulated system.
The trade union also raised the alarm that worsening insecurity in Nigeria’s oil-producing areas, especially in the waterways, is forcing multinational oil companies to divest from the country, despite newly introduced cost-saving incentives by the Federal Government.
