•As crude oil prices drop
By Udeme Akpan, Energy Editor
Competition among petroleum marketers and depot operators intensified on Tuesday as the prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, and Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), also called diesel, recorded downward adjustments across major depots in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar.
This came on the heels of significant reduction in crude oil prices with international benchmark Brent crude falling below the critical $80 per barrel mark.
The development, however, raises fresh concerns over oil-exporting countries’ revenues, including Nigeria’s, if the downward trend persists.
Market data showed that Brent crude dropped by $4.68, or 5.59 per cent, to $79.09 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined by $4.79, or 5.96 per cent, to $75.55 per barrel.
The OPEC Basket suffered the biggest decline among the major benchmarks, plunging 10.04 per cent to $79.50 per barrel after shedding $8.87. Similarly, the Indian Basket slipped 5.78 per cent to $88.12 per barrel.
In Nigeria’s refined product market the latest Mid-Day Price Report showed that while leading suppliers, including Dangote Petroleum Refinery, retained their petrol prices, several independent depot operators reduced both petrol and diesel prices in a move that could further support lower pump prices if sustained.
In Lagos, Dangote Petroleum Refinery retained its ex-depot petrol price at N1,215 per litre, keeping it among the most competitive suppliers in the market.
Similarly, Pinnacle and Nipco maintained their PMS prices at N1,215 and N1,216 per litre respectively, while Ardova trimmed its price by N1 to N1,216 per litre.
African Terminal and Integrated Depot, however, raised prices marginally by N1 each to N1,217 per litre, while MRS held its price at N1,218 per litre.
The report indicates that the narrow pricing band of N1,215-N1,218 per litre among major Lagos depots reflects heightened competition for marketers’ patronage.
On the diesel market, prices were largely stable in Lagos, although Emadeb reduced its AGO price by N10 to N1,620 per litre from N1,630, providing modest relief to industrial consumers and transport operators.
Dangote, however, increased its diesel price slightly by N1 to N1,651 per litre, while most other depots maintained prices between N1,620 and N1,625 per litre.
In Port Harcourt, Matrix lowered its petrol price by N 2 to N1,220 per litre, while Liquid Bulk maintained N1,220 per litre.
On the diesel side, Bulk Strategic cut its AGO price by N10 to N1,665 per litre, while Matrix reduced its price by N5 to N1,670 per litre.
Warri witnessed some of the sharpest reductions during the trading session.
Matrix reduced its PMS price by N7 to N1,221 per litre, while A.Y.M. Shafa lowered its price by N4 to N1,223 per litre.
Optima and Rain Oil also cut petrol prices by N2 each to N1,225 per litre.
Diesel prices in the oil hub also declined, with Matrix and A.Y.M. Shafa reducing prices by N10 each to N1,670 and N1,665 per litre respectively.
Nipco posted the biggest diesel adjustment in Warri, cutting its AGO price by N15 to N1,650 per litre, while Rain Oil and Zamson maintained N1,650 per litre.
Checks by Vanguard showed that MRS that takes supplies directly from Dangote Petroleum Refinery reduced its fuel price to N1,245 per litre from N1,280 per litre, yesterday.
The checks also showed that other oil marketers reduced their petrol prices from more than N1,280 per litre to between N1, 245 per litre to N1, 250 per litre in Lagos and its environs.
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