Fresh high transport fares and cost commodities and services loom in the country as the Petroleum Products Marketing Company, Friday, hiked the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, from N147.67 per litre to N155.17 a litre.
The company, one of the downstream subsidiaries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has added N7.50 per litre to the previous cost.
In a memo from the Manager Marketing of the PPMC, Tijani Ali, to the Executive Director, Commercial, EDC, of the PPMC, the NNPC subsidiary said the new price would come into effect from November 13, 2020.
The ex-depot price is the amount at which the PPMC sells the commodity at the depot to retail outlets owners and fuel marketers across the country.
This means that at N155.17 per litre, marketers would be dispensing the product to motorists at between N167 and N175 per litre, from Friday, November 13, 2020.
PPMC also put the Ex-coastal price of the commodity at N130 per litre. The memo reads: “The EDC may please refer to the management directives in respect of the above subject (PPMC PMS prices for November 2020) as per the attached memo.
“In line with the above, we propose PPMC November 2020 actual prices for PMS with effect from 13th November 2020, as follows: PPMC Ex-Coastal Price for PMS N130 per litre; PPMC Ex-Depot Price (With collection) N155.17 per litre. Above is submitted for your consideration and approval.”
The Executive Directive, Commercial, also sought the approval of the Managing Director the PPMC, saying: “Following your directive in the attached memo to advice the market of the change on PPMC portal, we hereby seek your kind consideration and approval for the change of price on the price portal.”
The Managing Director in his response, Thursday, November 12, 2020, gave the EDC the approval to for the hike in the price of the commodity to be effected.
However, the hike in the price of the petrol by the NNPC and the PPMC is coming against the fact that the price of crude oil in the international market had remained largely unchanged over the last three months.
Specifically, earlier in November, the price of crude oil had dropped to between $35 and $37 per barrel, before rising to $42.97 per litre as at 8am, November 13, 2020. Crude oil prices had hovered around $40 and N42 per barrel over the last three months.
In September, the Federal Government declared a fully deregulated downstream oil sector, paving the way for prices to be determined by market forces, especially international oil price.
The deregulation had been singled out as the reason behind the recent hike in the price of petrol.
According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, deregulation will be difficult for Nigerians at the initial stage but will get better in the long run.
He added that since the announcement of full deregulation in March, the Federal Government has saved over N1 trillion.
Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has described the alleged increase of ex-depot price of premium motor spirit from 147.67 to 155.75 without any consideration for the current economic and political situation of the country as uncalled for.
IPMAN, therefore, appealed to the federal government to stay action on the implementation of the new ex-depot price announced by the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The South West Zonal Chairman of IPMAN, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen, who said this in a statement issued in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, said the plea became necessary so as not to incur the wrath of Nigerians who are going through economic hardship.
