NNPC to spend more on subsidy as rising oil price increases petrol landing costs

The expected open market price (EOMP) of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) being imported into Nigeria may have risen above N190 as crude oil prices climbed towards a four-year high of $75 per barrel, The Punch reports.

As of March 20, 2018, when the international benchmark for oil prices, Brent, traded around $66 per barrel, the EOMP of petrol, according to data obtained from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) was around N189 per litre. Brent, against which Nigeria’s crude oil is priced, touched $74.75 per barrel last Thursday, having gained 10% since the start of this month.

The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Maikanti Baru on December 23, 2017, said the Federal Government had been resisting intense pressure to increase the pump price of petrol, noting that the landing cost of the commodity was N171.4 per litre as of December 22, when oil price was around $64 per barrel.

The PPPRA, in its Downstream Monitor for January to April 2018, noted that petrol price continued to rise at the international market, pushing the expected open market price far beyond the recommended pump price of N145/litre.

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