No Plan To Increase Fuel Price- Petroleum Stakeholders

Major stakeholders in the petroleum downstream sub-sector have dismissed the report of an imminent increase in the price of fuel.

This is contained in a statement jointly signed by Mrs Sotonye Iyoyo, acting Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Mr Obafemi Olawore, Executive Secretary, MOMAN and Mr Olufemi Adewole, Executive Secretary DAPPMA.

The statement said in Abuja on Wednesday that the envisaged increase in fuel was unfounded and uncalled for.

It said that a decision not to increase the price of fuel was reached at a meeting of the major stakeholders presided over by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu.

The statement said the Group Managing Director of (NNPC), acting Executive Secretary of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and acting Executive Secretary of Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) were at the meeting.

Other stakeholders present were the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), the Executive Secretary, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), and chief executives of oil marketing companies, it said.
It said that the meeting reviewed the state of the downstream sector, especially as it was related to products supply, distribution, pricing and Forex sourcing.

According to the statement, the meeting also reviews the recent concerns expressed at certain quarters on the sustainability of the current fuel price.
It said that after exhaustive deliberations, stakeholders present were in the agreement that the speculations of an imminent upward price review of petrol were unfounded.

The position of the stakeholders was based on the current market fundamentals of PPPRA pricing template for petrol as the market was operating within the existing price of N135 and N145 per litre.

According to the statement, the claim is therefore both unfounded and deceptive, as there is no basis for pricing speculations as being circulated in the last few days.
It said that the PPPRA used the opportunity to assure all stakeholders of uninterrupted products supply and distribution.

The statement said that Kachikwu had assured all Nigerians of Federal Government’s continued commitment to the welfare and well being of the people.

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We will not increase fuel price, Kachikwu says after meeting Buhari

After a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, said the government has no plans to increase the price of petrol.

Mr. Kachikwu’s statement comes a day after former Group Managing Directors, GMDs, of the state oil firm, NNPC, advised the government to increase the price.

The former state oil chiefs argued that the current price cap of N145 per litre of petrol was “not congruent with the liberalization policy.”

The removal of the cap under a liberalised market environment would allow marketers of petroleum products to sell at a comfortable price based on factors such as the exchange rate and international crude price. With the Naira exchange rate going down by over 50 per cent to about N412 since the current petrol price was fixed, approving the recommendation would have meant Nigerians pay more for petrol.

While addressing journalists at the State House after meeting the President, Mr. Kachikwu indicated the government would not heed his predecessor’s advice.

The minister, who handed over as GMD of the NNPC to the current incumbent, Maikanti Baru, said the government had no plans to increase the price.

“Have you seen any memo to that effect?’’ he responded when pressed on the matter by journalists.
The minister was accompanied to the meeting with the president by Mr. Baru who also said the government has no plan to increase the price of petrol.

“There is nothing like that,” he said.

Both men referred journalists to the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA‎.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the PPPRA also rejected the advice to increase fuel price.

While stating the government’s response, the acting Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Sotonye Iyoyo, said the proposal was the personal opinion of the former state oil chiefs.

“If it was a recommendation, that is what it is – a personal opinion. I’m not aware government is planning any fuel price increase. We are in a liberalised market already,” the acting Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Sotonye Iyoyo, said.

Buhari’s objection

Although the two oil chiefs did not provide details of their discussion with the president, the issue of petrol price is believed to be the main topic of discussion.

Mr. Buhari had been reluctant to increase the petrol price from N86 to N145 cap in May despite the hard biting scarcity of the product that left Nigerians queuing for days to get it. The scarcity persisted mainly because marketers refused to import the product saying it was not profitable to import and sell at N86.

The marketers have again called for an upward review of prices.

A senior official of the retail arm of the NNPC, who sought anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to journalists, narrated how the president conceded to the price increase only after so much pressure.

“Kachikwu threatened to resign if the president did not agree to the increase then” he said.

“I’m not sure the president will approve any such increase anymore, especially with the current economic situation,” he said in reference to Nigeria’s current economic recession that has seen tens of thousands of people lose their jobs, companies shut down, and states unable to pay salaries.

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