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The National Bureau of Statistics says average price of petrol in Nigeria increased 35.7 percent year-on-year in January

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  Feb 27, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT  |

THE National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, has said that the average price paid by consumers for fuel increased by 35.7 percent year-on-year in January. This is contained in Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) Price Watch for January released by NBS on Wednesday, February 15.

The report also stated that petrol increased by 1.35 percent month-on-month to N148.7 in January 2017, from N146.7 in December 2016. The State with the highest average price of petrol were Borno, which sold the product for N164.09, Oyo; N161.00 and Ebonyi N156.47.

States with the lowest average price of petrol were Kogi, which sold at N144.67), Ekiti and Imo, N144.64 and Abuja which sold at N144.20.

The states with lowest average price sold the product below the recommended price of N145. Fuel prices are collected across all the 774 local governments across all states and the FCT from more than 10,000 respondents and locations.

The report reflected prices households actually bought fuels together with the prices reportedly sold by the fuel suppliers. The average of all these prices is then reported for each state and the average for the country is the average for the state.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has measures are being put in place to ensure constant and adequate supply of fuel. The corporation said it would increase the February supply of petroleum products by providing six additional PMS cargoes of 37,000 tonnes each. The move, among others, is part of measures to sustain supply of petrol, diesel and kerosene nationwide.

A statement by Ndu Ughumadu, group general manager, NNPC, said the plan will also boost the NNPC’s existing national PMS sufficiency of over 32 days.

Other measures put in place, according to the statement, include immediate importation of three additional diesel cargoes before the end of February and an order for massive 250 trucks per day loading of AGO and DPK, from across the three NNPC refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri.

The statement explained that Saidu Mohammed, acting group managing director, NNPC, who chaired an emergency meeting on the corporation’s downstream operations where the measures were taken in Abuja, said NNPC would transmit the full list of marketers involved in off-taking AGO and DPK to the Department of State Services, DSS, for appropriate follow-up by the security agency to forestall possibility of any stakeholders engaging in foul play.

“(Mr.) Mohammed said the move to provide additional PMS cargoes of 37,000 tonnes each was to give further comfort and stability to the robust petrol sufficiency nationwide. Another measure the corporation has taken, apart from ramping up fuel supply nationwide, is an expansion of daily truck load-out of petrol, diesel and kerosene, even during weekends to ensure improved products delivery to the hinterland.

The corporation would provide additional marine logistics all geared toward improving products movements from offshore to land, to cater for additional PMS supply nationwide.”

Mohammed, the statement said, however, charged downstream operators to immediately implement measures that would sustain adequate supply and distribution of petrol, diesel and kerosene to every nook and cranny of the country. It stated further that the NNPC has also made concerted efforts to pay the outstanding bill owed Duke Oil, the Corporation’s trading arm, for products importation, even as it has put in place modalities for transparent accounting practice.

The statement also disclosed that the NNPC plans to obtain a foreign exchange intervention from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, adding that it would convert the existing issued $144 million PMS FOREX intervention to AGO. “As part of measures to sustain products supply stability across the Country, NNPC planned to obtain, from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, an AGO Foreign Exchange, FOREX, intervention to marketers as well as Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Associations, DAPPMAN.

“Already, the Corporation would convert the existing issued $144m PMS FOREX intervention to AGO. NNPC has also developed a comprehensive and clear deadline for the completion of the Atlas Cove-Mosimi pipeline and commenced shipment of AGO to Calabar.”

The statement, therefore, enjoined motorists and other consumers of petroleum products across the country not to engage in panic buying. “Motorists and other consumers of petroleum products across the Country are enjoined not to engage in panic buying as NNPC has over 32 days sufficiency for petrol, and adequate volumes of diesel and petrol to meet their demand,” Ughamadu said.

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