Sam Ikeotuony
Abuja — State oil firm Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Tuesday increased the pump price of the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, more popularly known as petrol from N537 to N617 per litre, citing market realities.
Following the development, fuel marketers quickly adjusted their meters and were selling at the new price.
Meanwhile, the NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, has said the increase in price of petrol was due to market realities.
He told journalists immediately after meeting Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja that the increase was not a result of lack of supply as he said there was robust supply of the commodity.
Kyari said: “I don’t have the details this moment. You know we have the marketing wing of the company, they adjust prices depending on the market realities.
”And this is the meaning of making sure that the market regulate itself so that prices will go up and sometimes they will come down also and this is really what we are seeing in reality this is how the market works”.
He added: ”There is no supply issue completely when you go to the market you buy the product you come to the market and sale it at prevailing market price there is nothing to do with supply we don’t have supply issues.”
”There are robust supply, we have over 32 days supply in the country, that’s not a problem. What I know is that the market forces will regulate the market, prices will go down sometimes and sometime it will go up but there will be stability of supply.”
NNPC is the major importer of petrol into the country.
President Bola Tinubu had at his inauguration as president on May 29, this year announced the removal of the subsidy on petrol.
This had immediately led to a sharp increase in the price of the product, rising from N165 to over N500 per litre before Tuesday’s increase by the NNPC to N617 per litre.
Follow us on twitter
