NNPCL Reacts To Rumours Of Further Increase In Petrol Pump Price

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has eventually spoken up as regards the widespread concern of a possible hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.

In a post by the company, posted around 11:48pm on Monday on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the national oil firm and major importer of petrol into Nigeria, said it had no intention to increase the pump price of petrol.

“Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPCL Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated.

“Please buy the best quality products at the most affordable prices at our NNPCL Retail stations nationwide,” the company stated.

The NNPCL Retail is the downstream subsidiary of NNPCL that retails refined petroleum products for the group.

Recall that oil marketers had on Sunday indicated that the cost of petrol would rise to between N680/litre and N720/litre in the coming weeks should the dollar continue to trade from N910 to N950 at the parallel market.

They also hinted that dealers seeking to import PMS were being forced to put the plans on hold due to the scarcity of foreign exchange to import the commodity.

The warning came barely one week after the local currency crossed the N900/dollar ceiling, with the naira selling at over 945/dollar at the parallel market on Friday.

The oil dealers had also said the CBN Importers and Exporters’ official window for foreign exchange, which boasts of a lower exchange rate of about $740/litre, had remained illiquid and unable to provide the $25m to $30m required for the importation of PMS by dealers.