The Federal Government has confirmed the approval of an upward review of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) petrol freight rate.
It emphasised the official price of the product remains N165 per litre despite the increased freight rate.
The announcement is a confirmation of the story that The Nation broke a fortnight ago.
The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), President, Alhaji Lawal Othman disclosed to The Nation that the government approved an increase of N10 per kilometer across board for the transporters.
The government in January approved a freight rate of N25 per kilometer for the transporters.
The Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Corporate Communications Department announced the new approval in a press statement yesterday.
According to the statement, the upward review is to ameliorate the constraints associated with the supply of petrol nationwide.
The statement that was silent on the figure, noted that the increase was due to soared cost of diesel that has affected the transportation of the product.
The statement reads: “President Muhammadu Buhari, has considered and approved the upward review in freight rate for transporters to alleviate the challenges associated with the distribution of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) nationwide.
“The approval was after due consultations with industry-wide stakeholders at the instance of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (the Authority).
“The review was necessitated by the upswing in the global price of petroleum products especially Automotive Gasoil (Diesel) and its implication on the cost of transporting Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) nationwide.
“Consequently, the Authority wishes to advise as follows that:
“In line with the mandate of the Authority as prescribed in the PIA (Section 31(i)) to develop and enforce a framework on tariffing and pricing for natural gas and petroleum products, the transporters freight rate has been reviewed to reflect current market realities.
“The revised freight rate takes effect from 1st June 2022 while still maintaining the current regulated PMS pump price of N165.00/Litre.
“An Inter-agency Team is being constituted to ensure reconciliation and payment of outstanding transporters claims in line with established payment procedure under the Bridging Fund Scheme.
“Meanwhile, NNPC, the sole supplier of PMS, has maintained over Thirty-Two (32) days sufficiency in-country.
“We believe the increase in transporters freight rate will further encourage Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and other stakeholders to deploy more trucks to transport PMS nationwide to ensure adequate supply of the product.
“The Authority assures the public of its commitment to building a strong and sustainable Midstream and Downstream Petroleum sector.” (The Nation)
