There are possibilities that the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, may drop in filling stations operated by independent marketers this week, following the massive imports of PMS by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, oil dealers.
According to report, the recent hike in petrol prices at retail outlets operated by independent marketers was due to the short supply of the commodity, which led to acts of profiteering by both depot owners and filling stations.
But operators in the downstream oil sector confirmed that several cargoes imported by NNPCL arrived in Nigeria.
“Once the products start hitting filling stations, fuel price will reduce, because the recent high cost was due to supply drop,”
Currently, petrol is mostly sold at between N580 and N613/litre at filling stations operated by NNPCL. Most other marketers dispense the commodity at higher rates, with some selling PMS for as high as N670/litre.
“The most important thing now is that cargoes carrying PMS ordered by NNPCL have arrived, some of them have berthed and they are discharging. So the partial scarcity we are experiencing now will be gone,” Ukadike said.
He noted that the inflow of foreign exchange during the Yuletide would not necessarily impact petrol prices, rather the increased imports by NNPCL should warrant a reduction in price.
