Nigeria’s state oil firm raises petrol prices again
16 September 2024 - 15:08
byCamillus Eboh
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Abuja — Nigerian state oil firm NNPC on Monday increased the price of petrol by 11%, the second increase in two weeks and a day after it started buying the fuel from the giant Dangote oil refinery on the outskirts of Lagos.
Nigeria expects the 650,000 barrels a day refinery to end years of imports of petrol, which had been subsidised for decades until President Bola Tinubu began removing support when he took office in May last year.
The price of petrol is a sensitive issue in Nigeria because many households and small businesses use it to power generators because the majority of citizens are not connected to the national electricity grid.
On Monday, NNPC said it had increased petrol prices from 858 naira ($0.53) a litre to 950 naira in Lagos and as high as 1,019 naira in northeastern states. It said it bought the product at 898 naira per litre from the refinery.
NNPC said it had started buying the fuel from Dangote on Sunday in US dollars and that a deal to buy petrol in the local naira currency was still to take effect.
The latest increase is likely to add to public anger as Nigerians are already struggling with inflation of 33.4%, which has driven up transport costs and caused a cost of living crisis that led to violent protests in early August.
On Friday, a Nigerian presidential committee announced that NNPC would distribute petrol from the $20bn Dangote refinery to the local market, ending a deadlock that had stalled distribution.
From October NNPC will supply 385,000 barrels of crude a day to be paid for in naira by Dangote refinery, which will in turn sell its fuel in the local currency.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Nigeria’s state oil firm raises petrol prices again
Abuja — Nigerian state oil firm NNPC on Monday increased the price of petrol by 11%, the second increase in two weeks and a day after it started buying the fuel from the giant Dangote oil refinery on the outskirts of Lagos.
Nigeria expects the 650,000 barrels a day refinery to end years of imports of petrol, which had been subsidised for decades until President Bola Tinubu began removing support when he took office in May last year.
The price of petrol is a sensitive issue in Nigeria because many households and small businesses use it to power generators because the majority of citizens are not connected to the national electricity grid.
On Monday, NNPC said it had increased petrol prices from 858 naira ($0.53) a litre to 950 naira in Lagos and as high as 1,019 naira in northeastern states. It said it bought the product at 898 naira per litre from the refinery.
NNPC said it had started buying the fuel from Dangote on Sunday in US dollars and that a deal to buy petrol in the local naira currency was still to take effect.
The latest increase is likely to add to public anger as Nigerians are already struggling with inflation of 33.4%, which has driven up transport costs and caused a cost of living crisis that led to violent protests in early August.
On Friday, a Nigerian presidential committee announced that NNPC would distribute petrol from the $20bn Dangote refinery to the local market, ending a deadlock that had stalled distribution.
From October NNPC will supply 385,000 barrels of crude a day to be paid for in naira by Dangote refinery, which will in turn sell its fuel in the local currency.
Reuters
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