- Fixed it at N179 per litre for petrol
- N1.89tr realised in five months, but money to share among tiers of govt’
Despite its transformation into a commercial entity, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, the government-controlled firm will continue to determine the prices of oil products.
This was disclosed by the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, who said the company would henceforth carry out the exercise for a fee on behalf of the Federal Government. He explained that whereas before its transformation, which took place yesterday in Abuja, the company functioned as the sole importer, it could not have done so as a commercial entity, but by the unveiling of the company in Abuja by President Muhammadu Buhari, the company would now charge a fee for such function.
“In the case of the price of petroleum, this is a policy matter. NNPC is going to be a supplier to the federation for a fee, so the price at which sell the product is sold will be the decision of the state.
The state has continued to maintain that we must continue to pay subsidy on petroleum products. We are happy to do this, but as a commercial venture, we will have a service level agreement between us to render that service” he said.
With the unveiling of the NNPC yesterday by President Buhari, the company has been incorporated into a limited liability company, as a result of the provision of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
It would be recalled that the President recently delayed the full deregulation of the sector, which would have ensured the removal of the controversial and opaque petrol subsidy for which the Federal Government budgeted N4 trillion in the 2022 fiscal policy document.
Kyari restated that it would no longer be business as usual, insisting that as a commercial venture, NNPC would now be a service provider to the Federal Government, rather than shouldering the responsibility of importation and allowing it to be hurt company’s bottom line.
He said: “We will procure the products and we will sell to the state and will be step-on-step with the country and literally I have seen no indication at this point in time that the state was ready to phase out any price of petroleum products, it has nothing to do with our operations.
“The new NNPC will not withdraw from the international organisation, but will rather continue to ensure more openness in its operations to attract more investments and foreign partnership. There is now more demand to be more transparent in our operations. NNPC is a partner company for the global initiative that voluntarily chose to become partner companies to Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).
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“The meaning of this is that we are going to make certain disclosure to your shareholders and to the world community that companies ordinarily are not required to do and we will keep to that because we are not going to withdraw as a partner company to the EITI.”
Meanwhile, motorists across the country will now pay between N179 and N180 per litre of petrol from N165 per litre, a development expected to raise the cost of transportation across the country.
The NNPC authorised the increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N165 to N179 per litre on Monday, which took effect from July 19, 2022 as the NNPC had already directed d oil marketers to change the petrol price on pumps to the new price. NNPC also increased the ex-depot price from N148.17 to N167 per litre following scarcity of petrol, which resurfaced across the country as fuel marketers seek to force a new price which they have finally achieved.
Filling stations have already adjusted their pump price, as most filling stations in Lagos have embraced various pricing patterns. The Trumpet learnt that the price has not stabilised yet, as some filling stations in Lagos State are selling fuel for N170, N175, N180, N190 and N200 respectively, depending on the area and marketer supplying them.
While some filling stations have adjusted the pricing on their meters to reflect the actual price, others have left theirs to reflect the approved retail price atN165 per litre, but were selling over the displayed price.
For instance, the Mobil Filling Station on Agidingbi sold a litre of petrol for N170, as indicated on it meters, Enyo Filling Station at Chisco Bus Stop in Lekki, sold for N170 per litre, Eterna Filling Station at Jankade Bus Stop in Lekki sold for N180 per litre, while Mobil Filling Station at Osapa London in Lekki sold at N180 per litre.
Also, the NNPC has announced that there was no money to share among federal, states and local governments. Providing a breakdown of its finance, NNPC revealed that it realised N1.89 trillion in five months between January and May this year, but that most of the money has been spent, a situation which made the World Bank to earlier express concern that Nigeria could be heading for serious fiscal crisis due to continued payment for subsidy.
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