|
Listen to article
|
The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that petroleum marketers can now purchase Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) directly from Dangote Refinery.
The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun and Chairman of the Naira-Crude Sale Implementation Committee, disclosed this in a statement through the Ministry’s official X account on Friday.
The announcement officially put an end to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited being the sole off-taker of Dangote Petrol.
According to the Minister, this was the outcome meeting of the Implementation Committee on the Sales of Crude Oil and Refined Products in Naira, held on Thursday.
In addition, the government reiterated its commitment to ramp up local production of PMS.
“With the commencement of local PMS production, the market is better equipped to support these direct transactions. This transition is expected to enhance efficiency in product availability and stabilize market conditions for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“The Committee recognizes that there are questions and discussions regarding this change in the market structure. We are committed to providing clarity on this development and will continue to engage with stakeholders to ensure a seamless transition process”, the statement said.
The development comes after NNPCL on Wednesday increased fuel pump price to N1030 per liter in Abuja.
Earlier, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria had rejected the NNPCL petrol ex-depot price of N1010 per liter.
Similarly, the Nigeria Labour Congress asked NNPCL to reverse its recent fuel pump price.
Godswill Akpabio, the President of the Senate, has declared that the Senate is prepared to step in regarding the recent increase in petrol pump prices imposed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) should the situation necessitate intervention.
When questioned by Senate correspondents following the plenary meeting, Senator Akpabio revealed that he has not yet performed a detailed analysis of the situation, but he attributes the recent developments to the effects of deregulation.
“It simply means that you are going to stop the idea of subsidy to make sure that the monies are used for other things. So I don’t expect any increase in pump price,” he said.
