Majority of Petroleum products dealers in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, have not adjusted the prices.
Our Correspondent who took a drive round some of the Petrol stations in Port Harcourt and it’s environs observed that they were still selling with the old prices of either ₦143 or ₦145 per litre for Petrol.
A drive along the Petrol stations along SARS road, Rukpokwu, two NNPC outlets along Airport road Rumuodamaya, Matrix and Total filling Stations were still selling at the old price none has adjusted to either N125.
At Oando Petrol station, opposite SARS, headquarters, the Petrol Attendants said they were instructed to continue to sell with the old price until they exhaust their stock.
Meanwhile, a commercial motor driver, Christian Owolabi, regretted that last month when the petroleum tanker drivers embarked on strike for about a week protesting against the seizure of their trucks by security agencies, they jacked up their prices to N500 per litre for Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, Petrol, at night to desperate customers but could not do same now that the federal government has adjusted the prices downwards.
Investigation revealed that most of the marketers who had stocked their underground reservoirs had been caught unawares by the decision of the Federal Government and are buying time to exhaust their stock before adjusting to the new prices.
A petrol attendant in one of the NNPC stations that also have a Cooking Gas plant in Rumuodamaya, who simply gave her name as, Miss Oluchi Madu, said that her manager didn’t instruct them to start with the newly announced price.
Similarly, at the Forte Oil Petrol on Chief G.U. Ake road, Eliozu in Obio-Akpor local government area, the story was the same.
Nigeria Government on Wednesday, March 18, ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to immediately reduce the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, to N125 per litre.
This is coming on the heels of a sharp decline in the price of crude oil in the international market to below $30 per barrel. Fears are rife that it may crash to $20.
As a result of the Federal Government directive, the NNPC announced that effective immediately, all its retail outlets had been directed to commence the sale of the commodity at N125 per litre. This means that crude fell by over 50 per cent but fuel fell to about a mere 15 per cent.
The PPPRA disclosed that in the next couple of hours, it would be coming up with the appropriate price after considering current realities and market dynamics.
In a statement in Abuja, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, stated that the drop in crude oil prices has lowered the expected open market price of imported petrol below the official pump price of N145 per litre, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari had, therefore, approved that Nigerians should benefit from the reduction in the price of PMS which is a direct effect of the crash in global crude oil prices.
He noted that based on the price modulation template approved in 2015, the Federal Government had directed the NNPC to reduce the Ex-Coastal and Ex-Depot prices of PMS to reflect current market realities.
Sylva added that the PPPRA would subsequently issue a monthly guide to NNPC and marketers on the appropriate pricing regime.
He said the Agency is further directed to modulate pricing in accordance with prevailing market dynamics and respond appropriately to any further oil market development.
It is believed that this measure will have a salutary effect on the economy, provide relief to Nigerians and will provide a framework for sustainable supply of PMS to our country. The Ministry of Petroleum Resources will continue to encourage the use of Compressed Natural Gas to complement PMS utilization as transport fuel.
At the same vein, in a separate statement made by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, disclosed that in compliance with the directives of the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources on PMS pricing, Port Harcourt the corporation has reviewed its Ex-coastal, Ex-depot and NNPC Retail pump prices accordingly.
He said, Effective 19th March 2020, NNPC Ex-Coastal price for PMS has been reviewed downwards from N117.6 per litre to N99.44 per litre while Ex-Depot price is reduced from N133.28 per litre to N113.28 per litre.
These reductions will, therefore, translate to N125/litre retail pump price. Despite the obvious cost implication of this immediate adjustment to the Corporation, NNPC is delighted to effect this massive reduction of N20/litre for the benefit of all Nigerians.
Accordingly, all NNPC Retail stations nationwide have been directed to change the retail pump price to N125 per litre.
NAN