The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), on Sunday, said its sustained, strategic intervention in the supply and distribution of petroleum products, has led to significant price fall of products nationwide.
A statement by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division in Abuja, noted that the fall was in the prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas.
Ughamadu stated that in the last few weeks, the price of petrol fell steadily from N145 per litre to between N142 and N143 per litre in some filling stations across the country.
He said a recent survey by the NNPC Oil and Gas forum showed that NNPC mega and affiliate stations across the country, sold PMS for N143 per litre, while some major and independent marketers in Lagos, Abuja, Sokoto, Enugu, Delta sold between N142 and N145 per litre.
He added that an independent marketer in Mosimi, Emeka Ikechukwu, said the going ex-depot prices of PMS dropped from N138 to N133.28 per litre in NNPC depots and between N130 and N131 per litre in private depots.
He, however, said prices remained constant in Aba and Umuahia in Abia and Calabar in Cross River, where most independent fuel stations and major marketers were selling the product at N145 per litre.
Ughamadu said the survey showed a similar trend of drop in price for cooking gas with the average price for refilling a 5kg cylinder at N2,215.96 from the former price of N2,500.
He said states with the lowest average price for the 5kg LPG refill were Kaduna and Niger at N2,000; Kogi at N2,005 and Oyo at N2,033.33.
“At the NNPC Mega and retail stations nationwide, a 12.5kg of cooking gas that was sold for N4,500 few months ago is now sold for N3,800, while other retail outlets sell the same quantity for N4,000.
“NNPC has sustained its interventions through sustained improvement in the supply of products and remodeling of distribution channels to address sufficiency issues across the country.
“The corporation has also stepped up resuscitation of some of its critical pipelines and depots such as the Atlas Cove – Mosimi Depot Pipeline, Port-Harcourt Refinery – Aba Depot Pipeline, Kaduna – Kano Pipeline and the Kano Depot which enhanced efficiency in products distribution.
“Efforts are also ongoing by the NNPC to revamp and re-commission other critical pipelines and depots across the country to further push down the prices of petroleum products for the benefit of consumers.”
Meanwhile, a check around Abuja metropolis by a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent showed that though most filling stations retained the old price of N145 per liter, the A.Y.M Shafa filling stations in Apo, Airport road and Kubwa expressway and Lumia Petrol sell the product at N141 per litre.