The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has declared a steady fall in the retail prices of PMS and cooking gas nationwide.
The corporation said the gradual fall in the price template of these critical products was due to its sustained strategic intervention and the efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country. The corporation, however, said prices of the products vary across the nation, going by available statistics at its disposal.
The NNPC said these in press release by its Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndu Ughamadu and made available to journalists in Abuja yesterday.
The statement quoted a national survey by Oil and Gas Forum, an NNPC’s weekly TV programme, as indicating that in the last few weeks, the price of petrol has fallen steadily from N145 per litre to between N142 and N143 per litre in some stations across the country.
The study further showed that NNPC Mega and affiliate stations across the country are selling the product for N143 per litre, while the pump price ranged from between N142 and N145 per litre in some major and independent marketers in Lagos, Abuja, Sokoto, Enugu, Delta and other major cities.
One of the respondents in the survey and a manager at an independent fuel retail station in Abuja, Mohammed Abdullahi, said the station currently sells petrol at N142 per litre in line with the prevailing market situation in order to sustain the turnover of the business and to attract more motorists to the station.
Another independent marketer in Mosimi, Emeka Ikechukwu, said the going ex-depot prices of PMS had dropped from N138 per litre in most depots to N133.28 in NNPC depots and between N130 and N131 per litre in private depots.
However, the situation is slightly different in Aba and Umuahia in Abia State; and Calabar in Cross River State, where most independent fuel stations, as well as major marketers selling the product at N145 per litre.
The survey also showed a similar trend of drop in price for cooking gas with the average price for refilling 5kg cylinder at N2, 215.96 from the former price of N2, 500.00. The study further revealed that states with the lowest average price for the 5kg LPG refill were Kaduna and Niger at N2, 000; Kogi at N2,005.00; and Oyo at N2,033.33.
At the NNPC Mega and retail stations nationwide, a 12.5kg of cooking gas that was sold for N4, 500 a few months ago, now goes for N3,800; while other retail outlets sell the same quantity for N4,000.
The corporation also disclosed that it has stepped up the resuscitation of some of its critical pipelines and depots, such as the Atlas Cove – Mosimi Depot Pipeline; Port-Harcourt Refinery – Aba Depot Pipeline; Kaduna – Kano Pipeline; and Kano Depot, which had enhanced efficiency in products’ distribution.
