New pump price: It’s market forces at play – NNPCL

Tamarauemi Ebimini

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) on Tuesday reacted to the sudden increase of fuel pump prices from N540/litr to N617/litr, describing the development as “market forces at play.”

Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari offered the explanation after he met with the Vice President, Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

According to Kyari, the problem is not a shortage of supply of product, rather the forces of demand and supply in the marketing value chain was simply taking effect.

He said importers of fuel product were gaining confidence in the system, noting that prices were bound to go up or down from time to time.

Kyari who had a brief chat with State House Correspondents, said, “I don’t have the details this moment. But we have the marketing wing of our company. They adjust prices depending on the market realities.

Asked if there was shortage of product in the market to have warranted the increase, he responded saying, “No, there is no supply issue completely.

Corroborating the NNPCL Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, CEO, Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) debunked insinuations that the new price adjustment were set by the NNPCL.

He said, “As a regulator, I told you back in May that we are not going to be setting price. The market will determine itself and as you saw back in early June when prices came out, it was based on the cost of importation plus other logistics of distribution and of course the profit margin by the importer. This market is deregulated; it is open to all participants.”