PPPRA steps back as oil marketers get go-ahead to fix retail petrol price

….assures Nigerians of better days ahead

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) says it would no longer provide a price band at which marketers will sell petrol,The Punch reports.

The newspaper quotes Abdulkadir Saidu, PPPRA executive secretary, as saying the retail price of petrol would henceforth be determined by demand and supply of the commodity and the international price of crude oil.

With this move, it means that the downstream sector of the oil industry has been fully deregulated.

Saidu, who was represented by Victor Shidok, PPPRA general manager for administration and human resources, also said the agency would remain the regulator to ensure that oil marketers do not cheat consumers.

“This, however, must be in accordance with our code of conduct because as a regulator, it is our duty to protect the consumer and operators must abide by our codes,” Saidu stated.

Saidu was also quoted to have said independent marketers have not begun to import refined petroleum products because of the scarcity of foreign exchange.

In March, the federal executive council approved that the pump price of petrol is modulated in line with happenings in the global oil market.

At the time, it said this was a step in deregulating the downstream sector as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would no longer absorb the differences between the landing cost and the pegged retail price.

“You know how things are globally with the impact of COVID-19 to the global oil market. Accessing forex remains a challenge for marketers.

“We are hopeful that in a few months to come, Nigerians will understand what government is doing to stabilise the downstream sector,’’ he said.

Abubakar said that the agency would continue to monitor the code of conduct that guides operation of marketers in the industry and ensure that it was not violated.

He reiterated that government was no longer in business of fixing the pump price of petrol but would monitor marketers to avoid profiteering.

He hinted that the agency may not be able to provide monthly price band for the product as it contradicts the deregulation policy.

“If we give you the price band for this month, it is like price fixing’’ he said, and assured Nigerians that better days were ahead as things would normalise with time.