Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, has blamed market factors for the recent increase in petrol pump price from N540 to N617 per litre.
Kyari provided this explanation after meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Aso Villa on Tuesday.
He informed state house correspondents that the price increase was not caused by a gasoline shortage.
Earlier, news outlets claimed that the price of gasoline at the NNPC fuelling station had been raised to N617.
UPDATE: Why Fuel Price Rose To N617/litre — NNPCL
He said, “When you go to the market, you buy the product, you come to the market and sell it at its prevailing market price. It has nothing to do with supply. We don’t have supply issues. We have a robust supply. We’ve had over 32 days of supply in the country. That’s not a problem.
“When you go to the market, you buy the product, you come to the market and sell it at its prevailing market price. It has nothing to do with supply. We don’t have supply issues. We have a robust supply. We’ve had over 32 days of supply in the country. That’s not a problem.
“I’m also assuring Nigerians that this is the best way to go forward so that we can adjust prices when market forces come into play. I don’t have the details at this moment, but I know that our marketing wing acts just like every other company in this business. I know that a number of companies have imported petroleum products today. So, many of them are online. I’m sure my colleague would confirm this. Market forces have started to play; people have started having confidence in the market. Private sector people are importing products, but there is no way they can recover their cost if they cannot take market reflective cost.”
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