The Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, has clarified that the price of crude oil dropped to a point where the open market price of petrol also fell to a level government considered appropriate to relieve some of the burdens imposed on Nigerians by the knock-on effect of the dwindling price of crude oil on the economy.
According to him, the price of crude oil averaged $62 in December 2014 and dropped to an average of $50 per barrel for the first half of January 2015.
It was after a consistent and diligent monitoring of the trend, since the beginning of the current drop in crude oil price that government was able to confirm its ability to reduce the pump price of gasoline, commensurate with the amount announced.
A press statement from the PPPRA said Mr. Farouk explained in Abuja at a press briefing that even at the lowest crude oil price of $47.23 recorded on January 16, 2015, the open market price of petrol was about the same as the erstwhile price of N97/litre.
Farouk maintained that with the current pump price of N87 per litre recently announced, government is still subsidizing the pump price of petrol in favour of consumers.
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