Nigeria hikes pump prices of fuel as petrol stations shut down

Nigeria motorists are expected to pay more for fuel consumption as the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) raised the pump prices for petrol in its monthly review.
A new monthly review of the petrol ex-depot has been fixed at N138.62 per liter of fuel by the pricing regulatory agency, pushing up the pump price effectively to around N145. 68 and N150 per litre.
The ex-depot price per liter of premium motor spirit (PMS) was before the review put at N132/N133 per litre and with the increase, pump prices of fuel will go up across the country. The ex-depot price is the cost marketers pay for a liter at the depots before adding other related costs to arrive at the pump prices.
On Tuesday, most fuel stations in Lagos and Ogun State shut their stations against motorists as they claimed they were awaiting directive from both the PPPRA and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for direction on the new pump price.
Reports have shown that prior to the review, many fuel stations across the country have been rationing fuel to motorists in anticipation of the new pump price announcement.
Though, no official information from the PPPRA on the fresh review, it was noted that the agency left the fixing of pump prices to fuel marketers’ discretion.
The price review may have been necessitated by the recent rise in global crude oil prices in the international market with the Brent Crude selling at $44.04 per barrel.
Nigeria had in May slashed the pump prices of fuel in the wake of the sharp drop in global oil prices and announced that it was deregulating pricing in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry hence.
Both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had pushed for the removal of subsidy on petrol, which has been a subject of abuse and corruption in the country.
At the international market on Tuesday, oil prices slid amid concerns that a nascent recovery in fuel demand could stall as a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections around the world sparks tighter lockdowns.