FG Moves Against Petrol Price Exploitation, Orders Marketers To Stop Profiteering As Prices Expected To Drop Soon

The Federal Government has directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure petroleum marketers do not exploit Nigerians through excessive petrol prices despite the deregulation of the downstream sector.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, issued the directive in Abuja while speaking at the NMDPRA General Counsel and Legal Advisers Forum.

Lokpobiri said the recent decline in global crude oil prices following the easing of tensions in the Middle East should ordinarily reflect in lower pump prices for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), but this has yet to happen.

“Following de-escalation of tensions between Iran and the United States, we expected to see a commensurate downward adjustment in the prices of PMS and other petroleum products. However, that has not yet happened,” he said.

While expressing confidence that market forces would eventually restore price equilibrium, the minister stressed that the regulator must prevent deregulation from becoming “an avenue for profiteering” in line with the Petroleum Industry Act.

“While we believe that market forces will eventually restore equilibrium, the regulator also has a statutory responsibility to ensure that deregulation does not become an avenue for profiteering. This must be done in line with the extant provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act,” he noted.

He also directed the NMDPRA to intensify monitoring of filling stations to ensure motorists receive the exact quantity of fuel they pay for.
“When someone pays for 10 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, they should receive exactly 10 litres, not less,” Lokpobiri said.

The minister noted that despite recent geopolitical tensions involving the United States and Iran, Nigeria avoided fuel shortages due to the deregulated market and increased domestic refining capacity.

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