Petrol Landing Cost Drops As NLC Accuses Marketers Of Price Inflation

The estimated cost of landing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol dropped by 20.34 per cent to N971.57 per litre over the past three months.

This was revealed by the Major Energies Marketers Association, in its latest competency centre daily energy bulletin for November 8, 2024.

The decline in landing costs on Nigeria’s shores indicated an equal reduction in global market fluctuations and supply chain factors.

The decline should also result in an equal reduction in prices of PMS in the country, however, the retail price of petrol in Nigeria increased by N443 from N617 per litre on August 1, 2024, to N1,060 per litre as of November 8, 2024.

According to data released by MEMAN, oil marketers imported petrol at N1,219 per litre at a Brent crude oil price benchmark of $80.72 per barrel and at an exchange rate of N1,611 per dollar in August. Petrol sold at N617 per litre during this period.

But in November, with an estimated landing cost of N971.57, Brent crude price benchmark of $75.57 per barrel and an exchange rate of N1,665.84 per dollar, the product currently sells at N1,060 at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited retail station and N1,180 at stations owned by independent marketers.

The document also showed that the landing cost stood at N945.63 in September 2024 and N903.64 per litre in October 2024.

The association, which has always advocated for full deregulation of the downstream sector, usually blames increases or decreases in petrol prices on factors such as the exchange rate and inflation, among other reasons.

The development comes as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), accused petroleum marketers of inflating the pump price of petrol, which it says is significantly higher than the actual market value.

The NLC alleged that petrol marketers are exploiting Nigerians and adding to an already heightened suffering striding to the government’s harsh economic policies.

“The NEC-in-session noted with increasing dismay the shenanigans around the
appropriate pricing of petrol (PMS) in Nigeria. It observed that there may be a gang up against Nigerians by fat cats in the industry as the current price of the product is significantly higher than the real market price.

“Padding of costs and abnormal margins seems to be the order of the day considering the revelations from the ongoing controversy between Marketers and Dangote group. It is entirely possible that Nigerian workers and masses are being ripped off by those who control the levers of Economic power in Nigeria which explains why the domestic public refineries may not immediately be allowed to come on stream.

“NLC demands appropriate pricing of petrol and calls for the Public domestic
refineries in PH, Warri and Kaduna to quickly come back on stream to break-up
the monopolistic stranglehold the big players have on the industry,” the union said in a communique released following its National Executive Council meeting on Sunday, directing its members to embark on a nationwide strike beginning from December 1, 2024.

NLC contended that Nigerians are being exploited, with citizens enduring heightened suffering and hunger due to government policies that are pushing many into destitution.