Fuel depot owners and petrol marketers are retracing steps from the increase in the price of petrol as the demand for fuel continues to reduce across the country.
Private depot owners are reducing the price of fuel from N502/503 to N495/496 despite the report from last month that the prices of fuel could go up to N700 per litre.
According to The Nation report, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) depot maintained its N496 per litre fuel price.
According to the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Maigandi, the price reduction is due to low demand for fuel by Nigerians. The President of the association noted that the high prices caused by the new exchange rate policy were beyond customers’ means. He said: “They (private petrol depots) are even reducing the prices compared to last week’s. “They are selling at the rate of N495 to N496/litre. You know it reached N502 to N503/litre.
“In Lagos, most of the depots, that is what they are selling. NNPC is maintaining its old rate of N479.6/litre. “There is not much demand because people, especially civil servants, complain that there is no money.”
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“In Lagos, most of the depots, that is what they are selling. NNPC is maintaining its old rate of N479.6/litre. “There is not much demand because people, especially civil servants, complain that there is no money.”
He noted that nobody has imported fuel since the fuel subsidy removal, even NNPC. This new development comes amid the early reports that large consignments of petrol being imported by oil marketers are due in Nigeria from the second week in July, which might further force down the prices of fuel.
Also, earlier in a report, IPMAN’s National Controller, Mike Osatuyi, had announced that Nigerians should expect the pump price of petrol to rise above N700 per litre, particularly in the Northern region starting from July.
But with depot owners and marketers crashing the price of fuel due to low demand, it’s there the potential that fuel prices will rise to the projected N700 per litre by mid-July?