Ike Amos
Abuja — The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, Thursday, stated that the current price of N125 per litre for Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, would continue until March 31, 2020, when it would undertake a review of the price of the commodity to determine a new price.
Speaking in Abuja, Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Mr. Abdulkadir Saidu, disclosed that starting from April 1, 2020, the PPPRA would be undertaking a monthly review of petroleum products prices and would be announcing new prices for the commodities based on the market dynamics and international crude oil prices.
He noted that the price announced Wednesday, March 18, 2020, would continue till March 31st while a new price might come into effect after the review.
He said, “The approved price of N125 per litre comes into effect from today, which is going to be what we would apply till the end of the month. Then, from the 1st of April, PPPRA will be modulating a monthly price of petroleum products based on the market fundamentals. What the new pricing regime is going to be doing is going to be looking at the actual market price. It is going to be a reflection of what the market is doing.
“The way the market is going, this is N125 today, if by the end of March, the prices go below where they are today, then the Nigerian populace will be expected to pay less than N125. It is going to be a reflection of what the market is doing in any particular period.
“What we are trying to say is that going forward, the price will be a reflection of what the international market is doing. Normally, crude oil price determines the product price that we pay. Therefore, if the crude oil price moves, definitely, it is going to affect the price of PMS. If it goes down, Nigeria will pay lower.”
Nigerians consume 89,910MT of cooking gas in January — PPPRA
Saidu flayed oil marketers who were yet to comply with the new price directive and also faulted claims by the marketers that there were not consulted before the review was undertaken.
He stated that the Federal Government would continue to engage with the oil marketers, noting that a meeting had been scheduled with representatives of the oil marketing companies, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN; Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN; and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, DAPPMA.
He said, “Usually this is not the first time that government has changed price in the country. Any time there is price change, and there is tendency that these kinds of different position will come up. Marketers usually want to take price advantage of price increase.
“When there is price increase, everybody will jump and start selling at the increased price, but when you start selling at reduced price, everybody will start complaining. Normally, the complaint is that I kept a stock of product based on the oil price.
“Currently, this is part of what we are discussing with the marketers. We are having meetings with every stakeholder in this regard and it is something that we are going to sort it out.”
