Barring any last-minute change of mind, the Federal Government would in the next couple of days announce a new fuel price.
Photos: ‘Black marketers’ hawking fuel on the streets
The new price for the product will have a flat rate of between N100 and N105 per litre for.
Same price will apply for both the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] retail outlets and stations belonging to private marketers.
The disclosure was made by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu.
Kachikwu had last month, during a visit to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency [PPPRC], hinted of upward review of Premium Motor Spirit [PMS].
According to him, the review is expected to reflect current trends in the global petroleum industry.
The said review is expected to commence from May 2016.
Kachikwu said that the review in the prices was supposed to be done in April, but had to be suspended.
He gave reason for the suspension, saying that the country was able to save a lot of money within the first three months of the year.
He added that the savings would be used to fund the gap recorded in pricing in April.
The new price of the product will be announced either by Kachikwu or by the Executive Secretary of the PPPRA.
The new price would be based on the PPPRA pricing template, which is the major indicator and basis of the Federal Government’s Price Modulation Mechanism.
In the meantime, the Federal Government has said it would pay subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol.
The payment will be made from the recoveries made in the first quarter of 2016.
This is contained in the latest Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, template released in Abuja on Monday.
The PPPRA said between January and March, the Federal Government was able to save about N10 billion as a result of selling the product above the expected open market price.
According to the new template, the expected open market price of the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, has risen to N99.38 per litre.
The said price is for independent and major oil marketers, while N98.62 per litre goes for NNPC retail outlets.
It added that the expected open market price was the actual price of the product without subsidy and was based on the current exchange rate of N197 to a dollar.
It said at the current price of N86 per litre at NNPC retail outlets, the Federal Government was paying N12.62 per litre as subsidy on the product.
However, N12.88 per litre goes as subsidy for other oil marketers’ price of N86.50.
According to the statement, this brings the current expected open market price to N98.62 and N99.38 for NNPC retail outlets and other marketers, respectively.
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