Petrol Subsidy Removal: Oil minister pays unscheduled visit to filling stations

Minister of State Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, paid an unscheduled visit to some petrol stations in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa capital, on Saturday. The random visit was to enable him to ascertain the status of the petrol supply following the Federal Government’s deregulation of the downstream sector. Mr Lokpobiri, who visited the Rainoil filling station at Edepie, was accompanied by Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority officials. The minister also visited an NNPC retail outlet at Edepie, Rano Oil at Opolo, and an NNPC mega filling station on the Sani Abacha expressway.
At the filling stations he visited the minister requested the pump attendants to dispense fuel to enable him to ascertain that the fuel being sold to the public was commensurate with the displayed price.
Mr Lokpobiri said his findings indicated that the full deregulation of petrol prices following the removal of subsidy was yielding results with product availability during the festive season. He said that this was the second Christmas under President Bola Tinubu’s administration that fuel was available during the festive season.
“You can recall that the norm has been that during the festive season, when there is more demand, there is always product scarcity, leading to price hikes. But last year there was product availability, and this year also there is product availability and the prices are stabilising,” Mr Lokpobiri said. According to him, the emphasis of government in the deregulation era is product availability at precise volumes.

“What we have seen in the past is that somebody is saying that he is selling 100 litres, and what you are buying is 50 litres. That is why, without any notice, I am going from one filling station to another to ascertain the exact situation firsthand with availability, prices and measurement of volume. You can see the price disparity: some filling stations are selling at ₦1,050, NNPC Mega station is selling at ₦999, others are selling for ₦1,020, that is the real essence of deregulation,” Mr Lokpobiri added.