Oil marketers have warned Nigerians to prepare to buy petrol for as much as N700/litre in the coming days.
This development follows the sudden petrol hike from N540 to N617 per litre on Tuesday by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, on Tuesday, attributed the recent rise in petrol pump price from N540 to N617 per litre to market forces.
Kyari offered this explanation Tuesday following a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Aso Villa.
Against this backdrop, oil marketers have forecasted that petrol might sell as high as N700/lite once fresh products being imported by independent firms start arriving in Nigeria, Naija News gathered.
According to the National Controller, Operations, Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mike Osatuyi, Lagos residents should prepare to buy petrol for as high as N600/N620/itre. At the same time, those living up North could pay as high as N700/litre.
Osatuyi told The Punch, “The new stock will arrive any moment from the third week in July. But you know crude is now around $82/barrel, and the exchange rate is around N800. So, the new price would be determined by these two factors.”
Meanwhile, the platform gathered that marketers jerked the price from the previous N500, N510, and N520/litre to between N620 and N630/litre after the NNPCL raised its price.
This platform understands that while some filling stations in Ondo State increased their pump prices to between N620 and N630/litre, some in Kwara State sell as high as the already forecasted N700/litre.
It was learned that at NIPCO, petrol was being sold for N545 per litre, while Shafa Energy priced it at N595. At Rainoil, customers were being charged N568 per litre, Emmanuel’s rate was N560, and Neeman had the highest price at N700 per litre.