Federal Government To Shut Down Petrol Stations Selling Above N600 Per Litre

 

As Nigerians raise concerns about the high cost of the commodity by independent petrol dealers, the Federal Government has also vowed to shut down filling stations that will be caught dispensing PMS at exorbitant rates.

It declared this through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, stressing that it was not in the interest of Nigerians for marketers to profiteer in the sales of PMS.

Many filling stations operated by independent oil marketers have now fixed the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, at between N900 and N1,000/litre. Owners of these stations seem not to care about the cost of the product at retail outlets operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. Petrol prices at NNPC stations range from N568 to N617/litre. This often leads to queues at the stations.

But the NMDPRA official has noted that there was no way the agency could reconcile the high cost of petrol sold by independent marketers, warning marketers involved in profiteering to desist from the act while stressing that the agency would not fold its hands and allow operators to cheat Nigerians.

“Once we get these outlets, we are going to shut them down. NNPC tells us how much they sell and there is no way the pump prices should be that high. We don’t expect it to be higher than N650/litre," the NMDPRA spokesperson declared.

Due to the low supply from NNPC, private depot owners were said to have hiked the price of petrol as high as N850/litre. The depots sell to independent marketers, who could not get the product directly from the NNPC at about N570/litre like the major marketers.

In return, the independent marketers sell a litre of petrol to motorists and other Nigerians at prices ranging from N850 to N900 or even N1,000 in some remote areas.

However, the few major marketers that dispensed petrol, sold the product for N700 per litre. Many filling stations within the metropolis did not open to customers, as commercial intra-city bus operators increased their charges by 50 per cent due to the high cost of fuel.

Following this negative development, black marketers have fully returned to the business and are having a field day. PMS at the black market sells for N1200 and N1300.