The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) says the hike in the pump price of petroleum may be due to an increase in the landing cost of the commodity.
“What I can tell you is, once there is difficulty in landing products by NNPCL and the size of shock absorbing that they can do become overwhelming, they will certainly shed some of the loads,” PETROAN president Billy Gillis-Harris said when he was featured on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief. “I think that’s what would have happened.”
On Wednesday, retail outlets of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) increased the pump price of the commodity in Lagos and Abuja.
Channels Television observed that NNPCL outlets in Lagos sold a litre of petrol for ₦998 which is ₦150 higher than the initial price of ₦855.
The situation is similar in the nation’s capital of Abuja where the pump price of a litre of the commodity went to ₦1,030 from ₦897.
That move triggered a hike in the price of the commodity in other filling stations. It sold for ₦1,050 in some parts of Lagos State.
NNPCL’s most recent move came months after a similar adjustment in the pump price of the commodity. The retail firm pushed the cost per litre of fuel from ₦568 to ₦855.
‘Market Forces’
But the PETROAN boss said the prices of the commodity will be determined by market forces.
“The truth right now is that petrol prices are going to be determined by the forces of demand and supply,” he said on the show.
“This does not mean that the prices will always be high. Remember that our dollar exchange value is going to impact very highly on the cost of PMS because we are operating a dollarized business in naira.”
Gillis-Harris believes that with the Dangote Refinery coming on board, there may be succour for Nigerians.
“This is what we thought that the Dangote Refinery and other refineries in Nigeria should come to the rescue,” he said.
