BREAKING: Marketers modify pumps as fuel price hits N617 per litre
At several gas stations run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Abuja, the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as gasoline, was increased from N537 to N617 per liter on Tuesday.
Independent oil marketers attested to the rise in the cost of the good since they claimed that any change in price by NNPCL stations was a sign that the pump price of PMS had increased.
"This is because, despite other marketers steadily importing the good, NNPCL is still Nigeria's main petrol importer at the moment. According to Mohammed Shuaibu, Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, the pricing at some NNPCL stations this morning (Tuesday) is N617 per litre.
Remember that President Bola Tinubu announced the end of the gasoline subsidy in his inaugural speech on May 29. This change caused the price of the commodity to increase from N198 per liter to above N500 per liter on May 30, 2023.
Since the removal of the gasoline subsidy and the naira's depreciation against the dollar, marketers have maintained that the price of PMS might increase to as much as N700 per litre.
As crude oil is the raw material used to make PMS and other refined petroleum products, the increase in the price of crude oil on the global market has also led to an increase in the price of gasoline.
Drivers surrounded the filling stations in Abuja that were still selling fuel at N540 per litre on Tuesday morning, but when word of the NNPCL stations' price increase spread, several independent retailers were forced to lock their locations.
Others started adjusting their pumps right away to reflect the new pricing. The downstream oil sector regulator and the NNPCL had not yet released any statements regarding the development.
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