Nigerians are unable to obtain lower Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) pricing due to the decline in crude oil prices, according to the Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN).
CORAN said that local gasoline prices had stayed high despite the declines in crude prices because of the stoppage of Naira-for-crude transactions, middlemen’s profiteering, and rising foreign exchange rates.
This was stated by CORAN spokeswoman Eche Idoko in response to the global collapse in crude oil prices.
Over the weekend, petroleum reportedly dropped as low as $64 a barrel for Brent and $59.7 for WTI.
Since Trump’s tax went into effect and after an unexpected announcement of a supply cut by the Organization of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC+), oil prices have been steadily declining.
In the meantime, local costs for refined goods like fuel have been rising in Nigeria despite the decline in worldwide prices.
Idoko responded by saying, “The price will continue to rise because these middlemen are the elements that want to see that local refining is not sustained.
“You have the FX effects, you have the effects of the logistics of shipping in refined petroleum products, and then you also have the effect of the middlemen. All these will push the cost of petroleum products high in Nigeria.”
Remember how last week MRS Filling Stations, a partner of Dangote Refinery, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and others, raised the price of their gas pumps?
Depending on where they live, Nigerians currently pay between N900 and N975 a liter for gasoline.
Following the deadlock in the Naira-for-crude selling agreement between the firm and the Nigerian government through NNPCL, Dangote Refinery ceased the sale of gasoline products in Naira on March 19, 2025.
