The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has once again hiked the pump price of petrol for the third time in 60 days.
The new price, effective immediately, will allow Nigerians in Lagos to buy the product at its outlets for N1,025 per and N1,060 in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
President of the Dangote Industries, Aliko Dangote, blamed the continued petrol shortages and long queues at filling stations across Nigeria on the inability of marketers to lift products from his $20 billion refinery.
Dangote disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, stating that the refinery’s capacity can fully meet Nigeria’s petrol needs. He urged oil marketers to take action to alleviate the current petrol scarcity.
Dangote said:
Dangote further expressed his frustration with the financial impact of storing excess fuel at the refinery, saying that each day petrol sits idle in storage, the refinery incurs losses that he could have reinvested.
He said he is losing the equivalent of 32% interest on the value of the petrol due to distribution delays.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said the current fuel scarcity in Nigeria would end and that the high petrol prices would eventually be reduced.
The national public relations officer of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, said that high petrol prices and scarcity are expected as the country transitions into complete deregulation.
Ukadike said the country is moving from a regulated market to a free one, stating that the Dangote Refinery had been undersupplying the market.
Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at TimesNow.com.ng.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
