Victor Ezeja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has increased the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol in its retail outlets.
Checks by Prime Business Africa revealed that NNPCL filling stations in Lagos have adjusted their pump price to ₦960 per litre while those in Abuja now sell at ₦990.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelPreviously, the NNPCL retail outlets sold at ₦925. The national oil company had on 23 December 2024 reduced the retail price of petrol at its outlets to N925 per litre from N1,025 per litre in Lagos.
However it went up on Tuesday.
This comes after Dangote Refinery announced an increase of its wholesale pump price from ₦899.50 to ₦955 per litre.
The NNPCL price is, however, higher than the ₦970 retail price for MRS filling station, Ardova, and Heyden, who are currently in partnership with Dangote Refinery.
The announcement of wholesale price increase by Dangote Refinery caused the pump prices of petrol to rise to between ₦1,050 and ₦1,150 per litre.
The increase was attributed to rising crude oil prices at the international market in recent times. Brent Crude had risen from $70 to $82 in a few days. However, it dropped on Tuesday. According to a Reuters report, Brent crude futures settled at $79.29 per barrel, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) for February delivery fell by $1.99, or 2.6%, to $75.89.
READ ALSO: Petrol Price Hike: We Absorbed 50% Cost Increase In int’l Market – Dangote Refinery
Authorities in the petroleum sector have stressed that since the downstream sector has been fully deregulated, the country would be susceptible to price fluctuations in the international market based on forces of demand and supply.
Oil marketers in Nigeria said that higher global prices are making local production more expensive, which might lead to even higher pump prices.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
