Billy Gillis-Harry, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PPROOAN), has said that fuel pump prices will keep increasing at retail stations if the Niara slump continues.
This is according to a Punch news report.
According to Harry, the naira slump is affecting the price of petrol, so consumers should expect an increase following the Naira slump trend. He said:
- “So long as the naira is losing against the dollar, the price of petrol in our retail outlets will continue to increase. We have requested that the President should declare a state of emergency on our refineries to speed up their repairs.
- “That is the one sure way to go, to be able to predict the price of petroleum products because for now, every PMS you buy in any retail outlet is dollarized.”
Nairametrics reported on Thursday, August 10, that the naira plummeted to another record low of N930/$1 at the parallel market on Thursday, August 10, 2023, as the demand for dollar by importers and other end-users far outstrips supply.
According to the report, the situation is further compounded by apparent non-intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the lack of a price control mechanism.
During an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, Dumebi Oluwole, senior analyst at Financial Derivatives Company, said that the naira is struggling against the dollar as there are still lingering concerns about Nigeria’s Forex supply because there has been no significant uptick in the major sources of Forex in the country, which include crude oil exports revenue, foreign direct investments (FDIs), as well as remittance inflows.
Crude price, ex-depot price context
Punch also reports that Mike Osatuyi, the National Controller of Operations at the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), said that petrol prices will keep rising due to the increase in global crude prices. He said:
- “Given the rising prices of crude oil, we can now see that the quantity of petrol they said we used to consume had dropped. At the same time, we can see that price of crude oil is increasing, meaning; Nigeria would have more money in addition to the money the country has saved from subsidy removal.
- Since we have more money in the country, we have to pay as petrol prices keep rising. Ex-depot price is now between N585 and N590 per liter depending on the depot, and it will either go up or come down, depending on crude price and exchange rate.
- “But the president has said that there would be interventions if need be. So, we believe they are watching as the situation arises.”
