By Abiola Olawale
The Price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol has hit N212.6 per litre, according to the latest monthly template released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
This comes days after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) denied planned hike in the price of the commodity. The announcement has triggered fresh concerns among Nigerians.
The template which was published on the official website of PPPRA, on Thursday night, revealed that the retail price of petrol would now be between lower band of N209.61 per litre and upper band of N212.61 per litre. However, marketers usually sell at the upper band.
With ex-depot price standing at N206.42 per liter, the March template showed that the landing cost of petrol per liter is N189.61.
The template also disclosed that the increment was due to the market determinants and importation costs.
According to the templates, the average price per ton of the commodity is about $561.96/ N169.22 per litre, while the average freight rate cost $21.63 per ton or N6.41 per litre, making the ex-coastal price at N175.73 per liter.
PPPRA further explained that for the component charges, the average littering expenses cost is N4.81 per litre; Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) charge is N2.49 per litre; NIMASA charge is N0.23 per litre; Jetty Through Put charge is N 1.61 per litre; Storage Charge is N2.58 per litre and the average finance cost N2.17 per litre, which eventually translate to an expected delivery cost of N189.61 per litre.
Meanwhile, following the return of queues to filling stations in major cities penultimate week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had said it has no intention to increase the pump price of petrol.
NNPC said with the return of petrol subsidy, petrol price would remain flat in March amid the ongoing dialogue between federal government and labour leaders aimed at stabilizing the cost of energy utility in the country.
