The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Tuesday said it has no intention to increase the retail price of petrol.
Recently, there have been rumours about a potential increase in petroleum pump prices, from the current ₦617 per litre to between ₦720 and ₦750 in the coming weeks.
Marketers had cited the depreciation of the naira against the United States dollar, coupled with the recent rise in global crude oil prices, as factors potentially leading to an impending hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), known as petrol.
However, the NNPCL, in a statement posted via its official Twitter handle on Monday, refuted these claims, stating that it has no intention to increase its petrol pump prices, as widely speculated.
“Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPCL Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated,” NNPCL stated.
The company, however, urged its customers to buy the best quality products at the most affordable prices at its retail stations nationwide.
Petrol prices moved up from ₦198/litre in May to over ₦500/litre in June after President Bola Tinubu announced that the government would put an end to the fuel subsidy regime.
President Tinubu, in his inaugural address at Eagle Square, Abuja, declared that there would no longer be a petroleum subsidy regime as it was not sustainable.
“We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime, which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor. Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources,” Tinubu said.
“We shall, instead, re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care, and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions.”
Consequently, the petroleum pump price adjustment for the Abuja pump price was increased from ₦194 to ₦537 per litre, while Cross River was moved from ₦194 to ₦511, Edo from ₦189 to ₦511, Delta moved from ₦189 to ₦511, and Lagos was increased from ₦184 to ₦488, among other states.
However, in July, petrol prices settled at ₦617 per litre at various NNPCL outlets in Abuja and other regions across the country.
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