Filling stations reduce petrol pump price as naira appreciates to 7-month high against dollar

The pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, has reduced from N640 and N660 per litre, which it sold a few weeks ago, to N620 per litre in some locations in Lagos state as the naira appreciates significantly against the US dollar.

According to reports, the product is sold to motorists for around N580 per litre.

Though the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has not officially announced new petrol prices in the country, the price adjustments have been noticed in some filling stations in Lagos.

Speaking on the development, Kunle Ademola, a fuel station manager in Lagos where petrol is sold at N620 per litre, stated that the depot price of petrol is the reason for the reduction from N650 to N620.

Kunle said: "For days, we have been closed and have just received our supply. Although other stations around us sell at N650, we are able to offer it at a cheaper rate because we just got a new supply which is less than what we paid previously."

Chinedu Okoronkwo, the former president of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in an interview, highlighted the connection between the performance of the Naira and the fuel price.

He explained: "Nigerians are aware that there is no more subsidy, and we have gotten into a new season where the market fundamentals are the ones playing the major role.

"As long as the dollar keeps rising in the foreign exchange market, the price of fuel in the country will continue to skyrocket and it is also in the reverse when naira get stronger."

BEB