Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that the federal government had no plan to increase the price of petrol from N145 per litre.
The Corporation’s spokesperson, Ndu Ughumadu, stated this yesterday while enjoining motorists to desist from engaging in panic buying of petroleum products.
The NNPC, according to him, has 1.3 billion litres stock of PMS, otherwise called petrol, which is sufficient to serve the nation for more than 38 days.
The corporation said the plea followed reports that some motorists had begun panic buying of petrol, following rumours that the government was about to increase the pump price of the product from N145 per litre.
“Indeed, with the resumption of production by the Corporation’s three refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri, complemented by imports, there is enough stock of PMS, Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), diesel and kerosene,” he said.
Earlier, the corporation’s Chief Operating Officer of Refineries, Anibor Kragha, had assured that the refineries had resumed production.
While briefing the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream in a presentation on the current status of the refineries, Kragha had told the legislators that the nation’s three refineries produced additional volumes of 4.6 million litres of kerosene and 7.7 million litres of diesel, in addition to millions of litres of petrol being refined daily at the nation’s refineries.
In its statement yesterday, the NNPC assured Nigerians that petroleum products would be available. It also reiterated that there was no plan to increase its price by the government.
“NNPC wishes to assure Nigerians that there is no iota of truth in the rumour that government is scheduled to adjust pump price of petrol.” (Premium Times)
