FILLING stations belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) have increased the pump price of fuel.
The product which previously sold for N897 in Abuja, the nation’s capital, currently sells for N1,030.
Our correspondent who visited an NNPC outlet in Maitama observed how motorists queued up to purchase the product amid complaints.
At another NNPC station in Gudu, still in Abuja, motorists queued up while waiting for attendants to commence sale.
When our reporter asked an attendant if the station was out of stock, she responded saying they had fuel but the management was waiting for the metres to be adjusted to reflect the current price.
Asked how much, she responded “N1,030 per litre.”
In Lagos, fuel which previously sold for N885 per ltire is now being sold at N998 amid long queues.
The development comes 24 hours after Daily Trust reported a likely pump price increase as a result of NNPCL’s exit as a middleman in the Dangote Refinery purchase deal.
This implies that the national oil company will no longer cover the price gap between the facility’s price and the selling price to retailers, previously absorbing a subsidy of N133 per litre.
The NNPCL’s decision is seen as a crucial shift towards a fully deregulated oil market.
Marketers would henceforth negotiate petrol prices directly with the Dangote Refinery under a “willing buyer, willing seller” arrangement, aligning with practices for other deregulated products such as diesel and kerosene.
In September, Devakumar Edwin, Vice President at the Dangote Industries, indicated that the 650,000 barrels per day refinery had begun processing petrol, with the NNPCL initially as the sole off-taker.
But recent adjustments allow independent marketers to engage with Dangote directly.
“We can no longer continue to bear that burden,” an NNPCL’s official told Premium Times, highlighting the financial strain of the subsidy system.