The Federal Government has directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure that petroleum marketers do not take advantage of consumers through excessive pricing under the deregulated downstream petroleum sector.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, issued the directive on Tuesday in Abuja while delivering the keynote address at the NMDPRA General Counsel and Legal Advisers Forum themed “Beyond Compliance: Driving Regulatory Certainty and Investment Confidence in Nigeria’s Petroleum Sector.”
Lokpobiri said that although the downstream petroleum sector has been fully deregulated, regulatory oversight remains essential to prevent market abuse and protect consumers from profiteering.
He noted that following the easing of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the subsequent decline in global crude oil prices, Nigerians had expected a corresponding reduction in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.
However, he observed that petrol prices have remained high despite crude oil dropping from about $120 per barrel to around $72 per barrel in recent weeks.
“Following de-escalation of tensions between Iran and the United States, we expected to see a commensurate downward adjustment in the prices of PMS and other petroleum products. However, that has not yet happened,” the minister said.
While acknowledging that market forces would eventually stabilise prices, Lokpobiri stressed that the regulator has a statutory duty under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to ensure that deregulation does not become an avenue for profiteering.
He also charged the NMDPRA to strengthen its monitoring mechanisms to ensure that consumers are not shortchanged at filling stations, particularly in terms of quantity dispensed for payments made.