Fg Re-introduces Fuel Subsidy, Price Unchanged
BEVERLY HILLS, April 03, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government says it has re-introduced the payment of subsidy on premium motor spirit, otherwise known as fuel/petrol, as it subsidised the commodity by N5.84 for every litre of the product.
It also announced that the current official pump prices of petrol would remain at N86 per litre when purchased at filling stations run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and N86.5 per litre when sold at outlets operated by other oil marketers.
Subsidy on petrol was stopped in January after the review of the pricing template of the product by the government through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), which is the agency of the government that regulates the prices of petroleum products across the country.
According to the agency, the decision to return to subsidy was due to figures from the Expected Open Market Price (EOMP) – is the actual cost of petrol without subsidy comprising of the landing cost of the product as well as its subtotal margins like transporters charge, admin fee, dealers cost, bridging fund, etc.
The PPPRA revealed that the EOMP of petrol for non-NNPC stations as at April 2, 2016, was N92.34 per litre, against an official pump price of N86.5 per litre, leaving an under-recovery or subsidy of N5.84 per litre.
Similarly, the template for NNPC-run stations showed that the government was paying N5.80 per litre as subsidy, as the EOMP for outlets in this category was N91.80 per litre as against an official rate of N86 per litre.
Acting Executive Secretary, PPPRA, Mrs. Sotonye Iyoyo, debunked news making the rounds that the agency was planning to increase the petrol price urging members of the public to ignore such rumour and desist from panic-buying, stressing that
“The agency is retaining the retail prices of N86.00 for the NNPC, and N86.50 for the other marketing companies. The pump price of household kerosene also remains unchanged from what it was in the last quarter,” she said.
“Therefore, marketers are advised to ensure that there is no price distortion in their respective retail outlets. PPPRA, however, shall continue to monitor the global oil market performances, and come up, at appropriate time, with reasonable changes consistent with the newly-adopted price modulation principles.”
“PPPRA was working hard with other sister-organisations to ensure that the current supply and distribution challenges were resolved within the coming days.”
“In the latest release, the apex national oil company, the NNPC, has 41.74 per cent of the total allocation, while the rest of the oil marketing companies got a total allocation of 58.27 per cent.”
Story by David Oputah