Nigeria’s petroleum product marketers and filling station owners have systematically increased the prices of petrol and diesel across the country.
Reports of survey at major filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Friday, revealed that members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have hiked their petrol prices by between N35 and N45 per litre.
That was the case at the Empire Energy filling station in Gwarimpa, where the petrol pump price rose to N955 per litre from N910. Similarly, AA Rano, Eterna and other filling stations raised their pump prices within Abuja to N935 per litre from between N900 and N905.
The National President of IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, attributed the latest hike in domestic petrol prices among its members to the global oil price surge.
According to him, fuel price fluctuations are a function of global oil prices. He, however, noted that once there is a drop in global oil prices, the cost of purchasing domestic petrol would reduce.
“This is because of the change in crude oil prices, which has affected the domestic premium motor spirit price. You will see that there are changes in prices. Nevertheless, when the crude oil price comes down, the local petrol price will still reduce.
“For IPMAN members, we don’t buy much stock; automatically, when our stock finishes, we source a new one, and additional prices have been added to fresh stocks. That’s why you are seeing new prices now. The beautiful thing is that the product is available everywhere,” he stated.
Oil prices, such as Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate, increased in the past week to $77.04 and $75 per barrel, respectively, as of Friday evening, following the escalation of conflict between Israel and Iran.
* Media Report