Marketers keep high price as crude drops

Marketers keep high price as crude drops

—-Retailers should adjust price — Attendant

LAGOS — In spite of the drop in crude oil prices to $100 per barrel from $130 per barrel, oil marketers have continued to sell Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol at N1,300 per litre and above across the country.

Crude oil prices began to decline amid expectations that ongoing diplomatic engagements between the US and Iran could lead to the return of Iranian oil into Asian markets in the coming weeks.

However, investigations by Vanguard in Lagos and its environs yesterday, showed that marketers have not adjusted pump prices, in line with developments in the global oil market.

The checks indicated that several retail outlets, including MRS, sold petrol at N1,333 per litre, while depot prices remained slightly lower.

Depot operators, such as Alkanes, Soroman, and Bovas, sold the product at about N1,270 per litre, while Dangote Petroleum Refinery priced its product at N1,285 per litre.

In Abuja, the situation was not different, with petrol stations maintaining high prices of up to N1,371 per litre, even more than 24 hours after the decline in global crude prices.

Findings showed that outlets such as NIPCO and AYM Shafa sold at N1,371 and N1,370 per litre, respectively, among the highest in the Federal Capital Territory.

NNPC Retail stations maintained prices around N1,361 per litre, while MRS (a Dangote partner station) sold at N1,367 per litre.