Low oil price: Petrol should now be below N145/ litre

The Petroleum products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said it has observed a downward trend in the Expected Open Market price of petrol to be below the government approved pump price of N145/litre due to the recent plunge in the price of crude oil in the international market.

Daily Trust reports that expected open market price is the actual price of the product in the market without subsidy.

The agency said that it was expected that overrecovery ( another term for savings rather than subsidy) could be witnessed if this trend continues and thus will enable other marketers commence importation of PMS (Petrol).

The PPPRA was reacting to reports that petrol subsidy has hit N2.43bn and that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had taken over calculation from the PPPRA.

A statement signed by spokesman of the agency Apollo Kimchi said the entirety of the publication was untrue and prone to misleading the public.

The statement read in parts "There was no provision for subsidy in the National budget of the year 2016,2017 and 2018 and as such no subsidy was computed by the Agency since 2015.The Agency administered the Price Modulation Mechanism (PMM) for the period of January to May, 2016.

Presently, the scheme managed by PPPRA since May 2016 is the Appropriate Pricing Framework (APF). Under this scheme, the Agency regulates petroleum products supply and distribution through issuance of Quantity Notification(QN) and LAYCAN to NNPC and OMCs. It also monitors discharges at various facilities nationwide."

He further said that due to the challenges of PMS pricing in Fourth quarter 2017, oil marketing companies (OMCs) withdrew from