By Abolaji Adebayo
There is possibility of hike in the transport fares as the price of fuel may increase to N170 per liter from the initial N143.
The approved price of petrol in Nigeria for August will increase by up to 18 per cent according to estimates, as consumers await the release of the new retail price for the commodity by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
Already, commercial buses have increased the transport fares across Lagos State. For instance, the transport fare from Sango, Alakuko, Kola Agbado to Oshodi is between N800 and N1000; from Oshodi to Iyana Ipaja is N500 to N600; from Ejigbo to Oshodi has been increased to between N400 and N500.
The current approved petrol price, as announced by the PPPRA in July, ranges from N140.80 to N143.80 per litre price.
However, the agency is yet to publish the petrol retail price advice for August 2020.
Since the recent introduction of the partial deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, new petroleum products prices have been released to the marketers and consumers on the first day of the new month.
The price usually comes in the form of price advice from the PPPRA, the petroleum products pricing regulatory authority, on the recommendation of a special committee on price modulation mechanism constituted to review the fuel market fundamentals for the month.
However, almost a week into the month of August, the PPPRA is yet to come up with a new retail petrol price advice.
But, a new ex-depot price schedule released on Tuesday by the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) showed an increase by about N26.84 per litre, or 24.01 per cent from the price in the previous month.
The PPMC is the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) subsidiary in charge of petroleum products marketing. Virtually all the petrol used in Nigeria at the moment is imported by the PPMC from whom other marketers and depot owners buy.
On Tuesday, the PPMC announced what the ex-depot price for petroleum products approved for the month August would be.
In a memo to oil marketers, PPMC said that effective Wednesday, August 5, the landing cost of petrol at ex-coastal transfer point for petrol is N113.70 per litre, while ex-depot price will be N138.62 per litre.
In July, the agency fixed the ex-depot price range at between N109.78 and N111.78 per litre.
Ex-depot price is the amount depot owners and marketers are allowed to pay to lift products from NNPC depots for distribution to retail outlets across the country.
To determine the retail pump price the consumers would buy petrol, marketers are allowed additional margins and incidental costs for handling the storage and transportation of the products to retail outlets.
In July, with ex-depot price at an average of N109.78 and N111.78 per litre to the marketers, the PPPRA announced a retail petrol price band of N140.80 and N143.80 per litre price, an increase of about N31 per litre.
The PPPRA is yet to release the retail price advice for the month. But with the ex-depot price now fixed for N138.62, the retail price of petrol could go as high as N170 per litre.
