Following the announcement of the new fuel price, 617 per litre as announced by the NNPCL on Tuesday, July 18th 2023, several Fuelling stations have shutdown following the latest developments.
This as seen by the correspondent of Insight media has caused fuel scarcity, Fuelling stations in Stadium, Igbonna, Old Garage, Aregbe all in the State capital, Osogbo are closed .
In his inaugural address on May 29, President Bola Tinubu announced the discontinuance of subsidy on petrol, a development which led to a jump in the price of the commodity from N198/litre to over N500/litre on May 30, 2023.
Reacting to the latest developments, The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, has attributed the rise in petrol pump prices in Nigeria to market forces, which he said reflects the dynamics of a market-regulated pricing model.
Kyari said, “They are just prices depending on the market realities. This is the meaning of making sure that the market regulates itself. Prices will go up and sometimes they will come down also.”
However, he debunked notions that the price increase is due to a shortfall in petrol supply.
The CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, attributed the price hike to global crude oil prices increase.
He said the changes in freight costs and other miscellaneous expenses that importers encounter during distribution contribute to price changes.
Ahmed said, “Basically, what we’re seeing is the effect of market forces. You can see that crude oil prices have been on the rise. Just a week ago, crude oil prices hovered around $70 per barrel, but now it’s surpassed $80 per barrel. So naturally, these prices also influence the cost of the product.
