By Olatunde Dodondawa
Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has stated that marketers lack the power to determine the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol.
There were reports that marketers are now free to determine the pump price of petrol due to full deregulation of the downstream sector.
“For the avoidance of doubt, it is instructive to state that no private individual or group has the mandate to fix prices of petroleum products, however the statutory regulatory body (PPPRA) is saddled with the responsibility of advising guiding prices.
“Suffice to say that in a deregulated market, the role of a regulator in monitoring and regulating activities in the sector cannot be over-emphasized,” PPPRA stated.
According to a press release signed by Abdulkadir Saidu, Executive Secretary, and made available to DODONDAWA.COM on Sunday, it stated that “It would be recall that the removal of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) price cap and implementation of a market-based pricing regime was first announced by the Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in March 2020.
“This was followed by PPPRA’s publication announcing the Regulation on the market-based pricing regime, thus creating a legal framework for the policy.
“The published regulation does not confer on marketers the power to fix prices for the product as they deem fit, but rather guiding prices would be advised by the PPPRA according to market realities.
“The Agency shall monitor market trends and advise the NNPC and Oil Marketing Companies on the monthly market-based guiding price, which shall include the indicative retail price at which the product shall be sold across the country.”
The Honorable Minister had earlier stated that the Federal Government will continue to monitor the price of petroleum products and advise on monthly guiding prices that guarantee reasonable returns to Operators while ensuring consumers pay appropriate prices in line with market reality and are not overcharged.
The Honorable Minister in his statement, further stressed that the government’s role in a deregulated economy was to provide, through the operation of the PPPRA, a pricing mechanism to create a market-driven price regime.
It would be recalled that several publications in the print and electronic media have reported that the agency has removed the price cap on pump price of petrol thereby giving marketers the freedom to fix the price of the commodity and sell above the stipulated price.
