The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited raised the price of Premium Motor Spirit, often known as gasoline, at the pump from N537 to N617 per liter.
On Tuesday, July 17, 2023, several filling stations in Abuja noticed the changes. It is anticipated that the new rates would be applied nationally.
According to Punch, NNPCL’s move to raise its rates is a sign that the price of PMS at the pump is increasing.
This is due to the fact that, despite other marketers gradually importing the good, NNPCL is still Nigeria’s main petrol importer at the moment.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN)’s Mike Osatuyi, national operations controller, previously discussed the modifications.
The price at which marketers purchase goods at the depot, which affects the price at which they will offer them to motorists, is rising, he said, therefore the rise was unavoidable.
He said:
“If you want to order now for a truck, you will have like N21.8 million, we are going to increase it more than N500 because if I buy at N480/N495, what price will I sell?”
Also speaking on the new price, Mike Osatuyi, the National Operations Controller of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), said that he had earlier projected that from the third week of July 2023, when new fuel imports come into the country, there could be an upward review of fuel pump prices, which has now happened.
He attributed the increase in the pump price of fuel to three factors the recent increase in crude oil prices in the international market.
He noted that the dollar to Naira exchange rate is another factor including commodity supply challenges.
He further stressed that the prices in northern states such as Sokoto and Maiduguri could increase to N640.