The Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC) may adjust downward, the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) aka petrol this month, all things being equal.
National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, reportedly gave the hint that marketers are looking forward to a downward review of the ex-depot price for October.
He based his forecast on the decline crude prices. The Brent Crude that was $40 per barrel is today $39. 38.
He, however, said the marketers are expecting announcement of the new price from the PPMC, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
But Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) had last month said the price of petrol is not solely a factor of crude oil prices.
Its Executive Secretary, Abdulkadir Saidu, dropped hint that marketers have the approval for fixing the prices of petrol because the downstream sector has been fully deregulated.
According to the agency, only market forces determine the prices of any deregulated product.
The Federal government deregulated the product in March this year.
Last month, the PPMC pegged the ex-depot price at N151. 56 per litre and deliberately shirked the responsibility of announcing the pump price.
With the leverage, the marketers across the country have sold the PMS for between N158 and N162 per litre.
In that month of September the Brent Crude sold for $46 per barrel.
The PPMC had on 2nd September, 2020 in a brief internal memo with ref: “PPMC /IB/LS/020, dates September 2, 2020, the company said “a new product price adjustment has been effected on our payment platform.
“To this end the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is now one hundred and fifty one naira, fifty six kobo (N151.61) per litre.”