Depots have hiked the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) after the escalating tension in the Middle East jerked up the prices of crude oil. The rise was also linked to a strike by tanker drivers along the Lekki-Epe corridor in Lagos.
This came as the President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Festus Osifo, accused oil marketers of exploiting Nigerians through inflated petrol prices, insisting that the current pump price of PMS should range between ₦700 and ₦750 per litre.
According to Petroleumprice.ng, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s petrol price rose from ₦825 to ₦840 on Monday. Rainoil’s price surged by ₦50, from ₦850 to ₦900 per litre. It was also reported that Fynefield and Mainland jerked their ex-depot prices to ₦930 and ₦920, adding ₦51 and ₦63 respectively.
As of Monday, Sigmund was selling at ₦920 per litre; Matrix Warri’s price was ₦910; NIPCO jumped to ₦895 from ₦827 last week, while Aiteo sold petrol at the rate of ₦840, as shown by Petroleumprice.com.
The rise in ex-depot prices is an indication that a litre of fuel might cost close to ₦1,000 per litre in the coming days. The Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, told The PUNCH correspondent that the increase could be a result of the rise in crude prices.
However, a depot operator said the price changes could be due to the refusal of tanker drivers to load petrol on Monday because of the ₦12,500 E-Call Up fee.
The operator, who pleaded not to be mentioned due to a lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, told our correspondent that the issue of price was secondary at the moment, as there was no fuel loading on Monday.
He stated that unless the government settled the crisis arising from the E-Call Up system, Nigeria might witness another fuel scarcity soon.
The PUNCH reports that Nigeria’s major crude grades—Bonny Light, Brass River, and Qua Iboe—rose to $77 per barrel on Friday and sustained the rise till Monday, following Israel’s military strikes on Iran, heightening fears of a wider Middle East conflict.
The PUNCH