The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has reacted to a recent media report that the volume of Petrol consumed in the country has dropped to 4.5 million litres per day.
This followed the high cost of the product which has increased by about 600 per cent in the last two years, jumping from N198 to N1070.
Recall that many filling stations are experiencing low patronage at the moment as many Nigerians have decided to park their vehicles at home.
But the Authority chief executive of the NMDRA, Farouk Ahmed, who spoke on the sideline of the ongoing 18th Africa Downstream Energy Week with the theme ‘Alliances For Growth’ holding in Lagos cleared the air on the actual daily consumption, saying it has not dropped to 4.5m litres.
He stated that the national consumption level is between 45 million litres a day and 50 million litres.
He said, “The current volume consumed by Nigeria which is trucked to the market ranges between 45 million litres and 50 million litres, including the buffer that exists.
“However, we see a lot of activities going on now, because during the fourth quarter of the year, especially towards Christmas, usually, the industries experience a high volume of activities. But after this, we can see the consumption go down. We hope that this price adjustment or liberalization will discourage cross-border smuggling of the product because there will be less incentive to go across the border, meaning that the product will remain in- country. After this, we can see the level between real supply and actual demand in the market.”
He, however, stated the volume could go further down but certainly not to 4.5 million litres per day.