NNPC reiterates need to hike petrol pump price to N256 per litre

Chinazor Megbolu

The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Mele Kyari, for the umpteenth times,

has said the cost of premium motor spirit (PMS), known as petrol, should be N256 per litre at fuel retail stations.

He disclosed this during an interview monitored on Channels Television.

He hinted the price increase has become necessary if NNPC is to recover the landing cost of fuel importation into Nigeria.

Kyari also noted the pump price is supposed to reflect the current crude oil price which stands at $74.40 per barrel at the international market as at 09:23 GMT on Wednesday.

“Today we are paying N162/litre (for petrol). I am sure many people buy AGO (diesel) in the market and it is selling at N280/litre in the market today.

“So (there is) nowhere in the world diesel sells more expensive than PMS. That means that the price of petrol anywhere in the world, assuming you are going to sell it at the market, you are going to sell it above that price you have seen.

“Today, from what I can remember, I checked the number two days ago; what would we sell if we are at the filling station today and recover our cost fully is around N256/litre,” Kyari said.

He noted the Federal Government is still in discussion with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) for negotiations on the cost of petrol.

He posited that there will be no fuel price increase in July, adding that while the subsidy regime wasn’t sustainable, President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the NNPC to do everything legally possible not to make petrol price out of reach of Nigerians.

“What this means however is that we are taking out cash that could have been used for other things to pay under-recovery,” he said