The Federal Government has so far saved about N400bn as a result of the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, since May 31, 2023, when the initiative was officially implemented, oil marketers stated on Thursday.
Also, the oil dealers stated that there was a high possibility for the cost of petrol to rise in July, going by the recent floating of the naira against the United States dollar by the Federal Government.
The Central Bank of Nigeria unified the country’s exchange rates into the Investors and Exporters window on June 14, 2023, allowing market forces to determine the exchange rate.
Operators in the downstream oil sector told our correspondent on Tuesday that going by the revelation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limted as regards the amount being spent previously on subsidy every month, Nigeria had now saved hundreds of billions after halting the subsidy regime in May.
Our customers are here; we are transferring to each of them at N113/litre. That means there is a difference of close to N202 for every litre of PMS we import into this country. In computation, N202 multiplied by 66.5 million litres, multiplied by 30 will give you over N400bn of subsidy every month.”
Commenting on petrol imports by independent marketers, Okonkwo stated that the oil dealers were holding meetings about this.
“We are holding meetings with a lot of people who are interested in commencing PMS imports. We are not resting on our oars about this,” the IPMAN president stated.
Although Okonkwo admitted that petrol price would rise in response to forex rates, he argued that the removal of subsidy would not only lead to a continuous increase in PMS cost.
“When there is deregulation and no subsidy, the price of petrol would either go up or come down. If you want to profiteer, those who bring in and sell at cheaper rates would put you out of business.
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