OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, says the new price band of N140.80 to N143.80 per litre for Premium Motor Spirit PMS, also known as petrol confirms that the downstream sector has been deregulated.
IPMAN’s President, Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo on Wednesday described the new price band as “not unexpected”.
The federal government had in March, announced the full deregulation of the sector however, said it would not hands off fixing prices as a way of protecting the masses from exploitation.
In response, oil marketers argued that the The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA had no business interfering with prices if it has truly deregulated, calling for market forces to instead, dictate prices.
With the new price band of N121.50 to N123.50 per litre announced by the Agency on July 1, Okoronkwo confirmed was determined by market forces.
“After a review of the prevailing market fundamentals in the month of June and considering marketers’ realistic operating costs, as much as practicable, we wish to advise a new PMS pump price band of N140.80-N143.80 per litre for the month of July 2020.
“All marketers are advised to operate within the indicative prices as advised by the PPPRA,” the agency had said.
However, Okoronkwo said there would be upward and downward review of the price of fuel since the market has been deregulated.
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“What is happening is not unexpected because the Federal Government is no longer paying subsidy on petrol so the prices will change from time to time depending on what is happening in the international market.
” This will continue to happen until we are able to increase our domestic refining capacity which will make fuel cheaper in Nigeria.
“That is why IPMAN has been calling for support on establishment of more modular refineries in the country to take care of our domestic consumption,” he said