The Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, has announced that the pump price of petrol has been reduced to N123.50 per litre from the current price of N125.
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The reduction, according to the agency, is based on the reduced landing cost of petrol into Nigeria which is caused by the global decline of crude oil prices.
This development is coming about a fortnight after the PPPRA reduced the pump price to N125 from N145.
Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the price of crude oil at the international market fell to an all-time low, selling for below $30 per barrel.
On Monday, the price crude oil further crumbled to about $20 a barrel compared to about $50 a barrel it sold for about two months ago.
In the meantime, Abdulkadir Saidu, the Executive Secretary of PPPRA, who announced the new pump price, said all retail outlets should start selling at the new price from April 1.
“PPPRA, in line with the Government approval for a monthly review of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) pump price, hereby announces Guiding PMS pump price of N123.5 per litre.”
Earlier, the state oil firm, NNPC, announced that it had enough petrol in circulation to ensure there was no scarcity of the essential product as millions of Nigerians remain at home because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Reacting to the development, the CEO MyKayEnt Data Services, Kunle Odujeru, commenting in a tweet by PPPRA, said: “I believe this should still move downward if truthfully reviewed. Crude is less than $20/barrel.”
Following the current lockdown, there are emerging reports of long queues in Abuja as residents strive to survive in the face of the federal government directive.
The global Brent crude, a benchmark for determining the prices for purchases of crude oil sold for $22.74/barrel on Tuesday, 0.09 percent less than the $23/barrel is sold the previous day, as compiled from the data on Bloomberg terminals.
