Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have expressed their disappointment at the continued rise in the amount spent in subsidising Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, as it jumped to N947.51bn between January and April 2022.
An analysis of data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Wednesday showed a monthly rise in the Premium Motor Spirit subsidy spendings by the oil firm, though NNPC described it as under-recovery/value shortfall.
It was also gathered that NNPC had informed the Federation Account Allocation Committee that it would deduct an estimated value shortfall of N874.5bn in the May 2022 proceed due for sharing at the June 2022 FAAC meeting.
According to The Punch, NNPC has been the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria for several years running.
The company has also been subsidising the commodity all these years.
The President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, in an interview with The Punch, said the actual cost of petrol without subsidy was usually a little higher than that of diesel.
He said if not for subsidy, petrol would be selling around N550 to N600/litre going by the international cost of crude oil and the fluctuations in foreign exchange.
The approved subsidised pump price of PMS in Nigeria is between N162 to N165/litre, but oil marketers stated that the actual cost should be a little higher or about the same price of diesel had it been PMS was deregulated.
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