Fuel price rises 222 %, marketers blame high costs and forex scarcity
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Petrol price rose 222.92 per cent year-on-year (YoY) between October 2022 and October 2023, particularly stoked up by the removal of fuel subsidy in May this year.
As for diesel, its price jumped 25.45 per cent YoY, and raised manufacturing costs as well as inflation, as gleaned from the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Petrol price hiked from N195.29 per litre from October 2022 to N630.63 in October 2023 and that of diesel shot up from N801.09 per litre in October 2022 to N1004.98 in October 2023.
The NBS in its petrol and diesel price watch for October 2023 said petrol price increased 0.71 per cent month-on-month (MoM) from N626.21 in September 2023, and diesel 12.82 per cent MoM from N890.8 in September to N1004.98 in October, per The Guardian.
Top 3 states with highest petrol prices per litre in October 2023
- Zamfara – N659.38
- Gombe – N658.33
- Borno – N657.27
Bottom 3 states with lowest petrol prices per litre in October
- Delta – N599.38
- Oyo – N592.19
- Lagos – N590.95
Top 3 states with highest diesel prices per litre in October 2023
- Plateau – N1150.00
- Nasarawa – N1138.00
- Benue – N1091.67
Bottom 3 states with lowest diesel prices per litre in October
- Kebbi – N845
- Borno – N827.27
- Rivers – N824.44
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Marketers alert, high costs forcing fuel stations to shut down
Oil markers last month alerted Abuja and consumers fuel stations are being forced to shut down because of rising costs and the lack of foreign exchange (forex), among other factors making doing business impossible.
Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) at its meeting in Abuja faulted the way President Bola Tinubu removed fuel subsidy without due process, saying measures that ought to have been in place before the removal were not taken.
NOGASA argued the national refineries should have become operational and issues around forex resolved before the removal of subsidy, and also questioned the government’s sincerity and ability to end the illicit trading of dollars in Nigeria.
NOGASA President Benneth Korie warned the downstream oil sector is under huge pressure as fuel stations are shutting down due to harsh operational conditions.
“Depot owners are so terribly affected by the increasing cost of the crude and exchange rate to the extent that many depots are practically deserted as their owners are unable to secure bank loans to fund their business due to high interest rates,” he disclosed.
“Banks are not willing to guarantee funds release to stakeholders as a result of the difficulty, instability and galloping foreign exchange rate. Many depots are presently dried up or out of stock.
“Worst hit are filling stations whose owners find it extremely difficult to secure funds to procure products for their retail outlets and both the independent and major marketers are so terribly affected that as at today, filling stations are shutting down in great numbers on a daily basis and dealers are going out of business with many more on the verge of bankruptcy because of their inability to secure funds to facilitate orders for their stations.”
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