By Gloria Afajagbe
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, has attributed the rise in petrol pump prices in Nigeria to market forces.
This follows a recent price increase from N540 to N617 per litre, which he said reflects the dynamics of a market-regulated pricing model.
Addressing journalists, Kyari said, “They are just prices depending on the market realities. This is the meaning of making sure that the market regulates itself. Prices will go up and sometimes they will come down also.”
He however, noted that, the fuel price did not increase due to shortfall in petrol supply.
“No, there is no supply issue. It is not a supply issue.
“When you go to the market, you buy the product, you come to the market and sell it at its prevailing market price. It has nothing to do with supply. We don’t have supply issues.
“We have a robust supply. We’ve had over 32 days of supply in the country. That’s not a problem,” he explained.
On his part, the CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, said the price hike was due to global crude oil prices increase.
He added that, changes in freight costs and other miscellaneous expenses that importers encounter during distribution, contributed to the change of price.
“Basically, what we’re seeing is the effect of market forces. You can see that crude oil prices have been on the rise. Just a week ago, crude oil prices hovered around $70 per barrel, but now it’s surpassed $80 per barrel. So naturally, these prices also influence the cost of the product,” Ahmed said.
