Nigeria at 64: Marketers, refiners upbeat on fuel price drop as Nigerians groan
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has said Nigeria’s fuel subsidy expenditure might cross N700 billion monthly.
The Secretary of IPMAN, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu disclosed in a statement on Monday.
He was reacting to data released last Wednesday by the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, noting that the landing cost of petrol as of the preceding day was N1,117/liter.
Speaking to the MEMAN’s data, Shuaibu contended that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigerian government may not be telling the truth about the country’s fuel subsidy expenditure.
He warned Nigerians to be prepared for fuel pump price hikes.
“Petrol price is determined by the forces of demand and supply in the international market. When there is a global price increase, we should experience it in Nigeria.
“Therefore the N1,117/litre is not just based on our foreign exchange rate, but also the global PMS cost. The sole importer of this product is NNPC and the company is not telling us the truth.
“But data sourced by our counterparts, the major marketers, showed clearly that the landing cost of petrol is above N1,100/liter. This means that the monthly subsidy has crossed N700bn.
“That also means we should be prepared so that any time the price of petrol jumps, we should not be surprised because they have already told us,” Shuaibu stated.
However, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri on several occasions had insisted that fuel subsidies remain removed in Nigeria.
Further analysis showed that although petrol goes for between N617 per liter and N750 per liter depending on the location, dealers said the ex-depot price of the commodity by NNPC is N585/liter.
This brings the difference between the landing cost of N1,117 and an ex-depot price of N585 to N532.
According to the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, petroleum consumption figures of 44.3 million liters in October 2023, multiplied by the estimated N532 subsidy paid on each liter of petrol, give N23.57 billion as the daily subsidy spending.
The figure of the estimated fuel subsidy thereby amounts to over N700 billion in 30 days.
This comes amid the impasse between Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority over substandard petroleum products.
Meanwhile, the Lokpobiri on Monday, presided over a meeting with the heads of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
Recall that the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, had claimed that the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal government is paying more on fuel subsidies than before.
Similarly, the President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo had also hinted at the government is applying a quasi-fuel subsidy on petrol.
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