Despite recent price hike of fuel, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has warned Nigerians to prepare for more fuel scarcity.
The warning was given by Adedapo Segun, Executive Vice President of NNPCL (Downstream), during a televised interview on Thursday.
Segun’s warning comes on the heels of the recent fuel price hike, which has already caused widespread hardship across the country.
The NNPCL executive said there is need for a perfectly competitive market to ensure stable fuel prices and supplies in Nigeria.
9News Nigeria reports that against the backdrop of a new increase in petrol price, marketers have adopted a wide range of price differentials nationwide with petrol stations owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, among the highest pump prices.
The latest upward adjustment has fixed the base price at N855 per litre, NNPCL Retail stations, especially in Abuja, are selling at N997, the second highest to some independent marketers selling at N1,018. But outside Abuja and Lagos, some independent marketers were selling as high as N1,300/ltr.
Moving across the cities of Abuja and Lagos, 9News Nigeria saw filling stations displaying different prices with NIPCO adjusting from N700 to N955 per litre, Conoil from N660 to N940 per litre, and independent marketers from N930 to N1,018 per litre.
With the latest upward price review under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the price of petrol has now risen by over 355%, from N197 per litre on May 29, 2023, to N897 on September 3, 2024. The percentage increase is nearly 400% when considered the highest pump prices by independent marketers.
The latest increase, which took effect just two days after the company acknowledged owing suppliers approximately $6.8 billion, has triggered widespread condemnation across various sections of Nigerians.
Despite the new prices, queues at filling stations remained long yesterday evening, as many outlets were still without the product. This also fueled a thriving black market, with a litre selling at N1,500 in most locations in Abuja and Lagos.
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