Nigerian Fuel Crisis: No plan to hike fuel price – NNPC

New GMD, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, denied any plan to further hike the price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, stating that current realities on ground didn’t support any increase. Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Mr. Muhammad Garba-Deen, said there was absolutely no plan by the Federal Government or the NNPC to increase fuel price above the N145 maximum level.

According to him, if there is going to be anything like a price hike, the agency responsible for fixing the price of petrol, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, will definitely sensitise Nigerians on it and give reasons for the hike.

He disclosed that at present, there was no subsidy on petrol, adding that the long term contracts entered into by the NNPC with buyers and suppliers of petroleum products had addressed the issue of foreign exchange volatility. 

He said: “As per this moment, there is absolutely no plan to do that and no need to do that, because we have more than enough supply; we have very robust stock of product in our custody. In addition to that, we also have long term procurement contract with our suppliers. “The usual reason that would necessitate a review of price at the moment had been taken care of. We have long term procurement contract with our suppliers; we have more than enough supply to last us throughout the ember months and beyond. “The statement people are referring to was made within the context of technical explanation, not within the context of downstream operations.” Garba-Deen further stated that a new window had been opened for oil marketers to easily access foreign exchange to meet their fuel importation needs. According to him, the new foreign exchange window, which commenced about two weeks ago, also addressed the challenges surrounding access to foreign exchange. Read More...