Filling stations across major cities in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt sold petrol between N148 and N150 per litre on Thursday following the inability of the government agency responsible for fixing fuel prices to announce the pricing template for August.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has not been able to adjust the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, because it is still working on the new template, according to an official of the organisation, but the delay could stem from unwillingness by any government agency to take responsibility for a fuel increase.
The Petroleum Price Marketing Corporation (PPMC) had issued a memo on Wednesday to oil marketers instructing them that the landing cost of petrol at ex-coastal transfer point is N113.70 per litre, while ex-depot price will be N138.62 per litre against the N109.78 per litre fixed for July.
Relying on this, oil marketers who lifted petrol decided to adjust their prices to reflect the increased margins. Based on this, retail stations across the country began adjusting their pump price.
On the spot assessment by our correspondent in Abuja at Eterna and Mobil filling stations located along Kubwa Expressway, a satellite town at the Federal Capital Territory showed the retail outlets sold at N148, respectively. At NIPCO filling station along Lugbe Expressway in the outskirts of Abuja city centre, the filling station had commenced sales at N148 per litre of fuel.
Filling stations monitored in Port Harcourt indicated many stations had since changed to N150 per litre as soon as the new price was announced. Findings show further price variation, as NIPCO in Bwari Area Council sold at N149 per litre, while Oando filling station in Bwari Area Council sold at N148 per litre. Similarly, several petrol retail outlets in Lagos sold petrol around N148 per litre.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have told its members to continue selling petrol at the old rate of N143 per litre until there is a new directive from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), but without one, they are simply adjusting their prices to reflect the ex-depot price.
Responding to this development, Adetunji Oyebanji, president of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), told BusinessDay that the marketers would be adjusting to ex-depot price, according to their various locations and market outlook.
“First, if it is the marketers that determine the price, the reaction is not going to be the same in terms of price adjustments, unlike when there is an announcement on a fixed price by PPPRA. When the marketers determine the price, the prices vary according to their respective market conditions.
“Everybody’s situation differs, in respect to what they have in their tanks, respective market outlook and dominance within a particular district among others. This is exactly what is happening,” Oyebanji said.
Some marketers have not adjusted their prices as some could still be waiting for PPPRA to give them a price band and what price that must not be exceeded, he said.
“Anybody who is still selling at N143, the ex-depot price now has gone up from N133 to N138. So, those people selling at that know they are losing N5 from every litre sold.
“You will see more of marketers determining the price if there is no fixed price from PPPRA since the indicators are already there from the ex-depot price by PPMC.
“Reactions won’t be the same in terms of pricing. If the government did not issue the final price the marketers would determine the price depending on their market strategy.
“You could see price variations as long as the government did not issue the final price, and there may not be a sharp rise in price since the marketers are the once determining the actual price for now, since the ex-depot price is already out from the PPMC,” he said.
He noted that the PPMC had issued the ex-depot price, adding that the price guide was already there for the marketers to follow.
In July, the agency fixed the ex-depot price range at between N109.78 and N111.78 per litre. The PPPRA announced a retail petrol price band of N140.80 and N143.80 per litre price, an increase of about N31 per litre.
Ex-depot price is the amount depot owners and marketers are allowed to pay to lift products from NNPC depots for distribution to retail outlets across the country.
