Even as Nigerians were still commending the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the recent crash in the price of Automated Gas Oil (AGO) also known as diesel, fresh indications have emerged that the price might be heading back to its N200 all time high price as sources at various depots have confirmed.
The NNPC had announced in June 2017 that it had crashed the price of diesel at all filling stations across the country from between N175 and N200 per litre as of June 18, 2017 to between N155 and N160 per litre
But Sources at the depots, especially those tank farms in Apapa, confirmed to Shipping Position Daily at the weekend that the price of diesel has picked up again and it is on a gradual rise to its formal price.
One of the operators, Mr. Fidel Aisodioune told our correspondent that the NNPC had succeed in crashing the price to N135 per litre depot price, but that currently it could no longer sustain the price as it is now hovering between N150 per litter to N155 per litre from the depot.
Findings by our correspondent fuel stations however showed that the price has not been effected as many of the stations were still selling diesel for between N160 per litre and N165.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that in the first quarter of 2017, retail prices of AGO, which is one of the deregulated products, shot to an all-time high of N300 per litre in major demand centers across the country. The increase in price placed a huge burden on truck drivers, who needed the product for transporting their vehicles; the nation’s manufacturing sector, which requires it to run its operations; as well as on the masses, who need it for household power generation.
The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu had in June 2017 attributed the crash in price of diesel to the strategic intervention of the national oil firm.
He said a national survey done by the corporation indicated that in the last few weeks, the price of diesel had fallen steadily, adding that the study showed that the NNPC mega stations and its affiliates across the country sold the product for N160 per litre.
Ughamadu said many major and independent marketers in Abuja, Lagos, Kaduna, Onitsha, Enugu, Makurdi and most cities were selling the product between N160 and N165 per litre.
“In Port Harcourt, the average price is as low as N150 per litre,” he said in a statement issued in Abuja.
The NNPC survey, however, showed that the situation was slightly different in Asaba and Warri in Delta State, and Uyo in Akwa Ibom State, where most independent fuel stations as well as major marketers sold the product for N180 per litre.
In the first quarter of 2017, retail prices of AGO, which is one of the deregulated products, shot up to N300/litre in major demand centres.
The NNPC spokesperson noted that the sustained improvement in supply of the product and remodelling of the product distribution channels to address sufficiency issues were part of the interventions by the corporation.
Another area of intervention that enhanced supply and distribution of diesel, according to Ughamadu, is the corporation’s engagement with critical downstream stakeholders such as the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, Petroleum Tanker Drivers, as well as Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria.
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