The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has assured that it would protect consumers from exploitative action following plans by oil marketers to begin fuel importation.
The NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed gave the assurance while briefing journalists shortly after a meeting with oil marketers.
Already, three oil marketers will from July this year start importing petroleum products into the country according to the NMDPRA Boss.
The meeting is coming exactly two weeks after the announcement by President Bola Tinubu during his inauguration that fuel subsidy had been removed.
Tinubu during his inauguration on May 29 had announced that the Federal Government will no longer pay subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit.
Consequently, the NNPC Ltd adjusted the prices upward from between N189 to N194 to N537 per litre in Abuja and other North-Central States such as Nasarawa, Plateau, Kwara, Kogi, Benue and Niger.
In Lagos and other South West States such as Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and Osun, the price of PMS was raised from between N184 and N189 per litre to between N488 and N500 per litre.
In the South-East with states: Abia, Imo, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi, the price was increased from between N184 and N189 per litre to N515 to N520.
Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, Farouk said the issue of pricing of petrol was discussed with the oil marketers and it was agreed that there will bot be capping of prices to allow the forces of demand and supply to determine prices.
He explained that the NNPC Ltd has been the sole importer of petrol, adding that with the deregulation of the market, oil marketers will soon start importing petroleum products.
He said any marketer that would be allowed to import petroleum products must be able to meet the requirements of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
The NMDPRA Boss stated further that while the NNPC Ltd is being allowed to import petroleum products currently, it will be reducing the level of it’s importation to not more than u 30 per cent and 40 per cent of the market.
This, according to him, is in line with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council Act that no single entity would control not more 30 per cent of the entire market.
He also said since the oil marketers will soon start importation, the issue of quality of the products was discussed at the meeting.
According to Farouk, the need for standardisation of products had become imperative in order to avoid situations where consumers will be shortchanged when products that are of lower quality are imported into the country.
He also said during the meeting, the oil marketers agreed to improve their level of collaboration with security agencies to ensure the smooth movement of petroleum products.