Despite the recent upward adjustments of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) petrol by different prices, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has left its unchanged at N880 per litre in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Nation’s investigation at all NNPCL retail outlets in the city revealed the uniform price of N880 per litre.
In Lagos, the corporation has retained pump price at N860 while other major marketers have increased to between N930-N980.
Its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr. Olufemi Soneye attributed the stability of price in the state-owned oil firm’s outlets to its determination to adhere to its core mandate.
The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) mandates the NNPCL to guarantee energy security for the country.
Asked why has NNPCL left the pump price unchanged, Soneye told The Nation in Whatsapp text message that its for energy security mandate.
He further noted the PIA mandates NNPCL to be the supplier of last resort.
Soneye said: “Energy security. The law mandates NNPC to be the supplier of last resort.”
Asked whether NNPCL was sustaining the pump price at a loss, he said “not really.”
NNPCL’s refineries Port Harcourt and Warri have been operational, also supplying products to the domestic market.
It refines its own feedstock from its upstream firm- National Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and JVCs.
Its sustenance of the pump price despite the changes in most components of the petrol pricing template such as crude oil price increase and exchange rate shows a maintenance of a slim profit margin for energy security.
The Nation’s investigation at the petrol stations in Abuja showed that some major oil marketers sold the product from between N950 per litre to N970 per litre.
Some independent marketers vended the petrol for N990 per litre with little or no patronage.
But the NNPCL outlets recorded significant patronage.
Dangote affiliate petrol station, MRS vended the product for N950 per litre after adjusting the price from N880 per litre.
The management of Dangote Refinery on March 19 announced the temporary suspension of sale of petrol in Naira.
According to the announcement, the NNPCL had stopped the sale of feedstock to the plant in Naira.
