The revamping of the Portharcourt Refinery and Petrochemical and the deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector will crash the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol, according to the former Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited Retail, Prof. Billy Okoye.
Okoye expressed uptimism that prices of PMS will sell below the current ex-depot prices of N1030 and N970 per litre.
The former NNPC boss made the disclosure during an event organised by the organised by the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association (PETROAN).
Okoye’s comment is coming barely one week after the NNPC delivered the PH Refinery.
“When the president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu made that announcement, subsidy was gone, what it means is that the market is fully deregulated.
“So with Dangote Refinery coming on stream and NNPC Refinery (Port Harcourt refinery) coming on stream, what does it mean that the market is fully deregulated?
“You buy where you see that is most economically viable for you, and the market now determines the price.
“So there’s no price war. It’s the same thing as in any market where the forces of demand and supply will determine the price. So it’s a good thing for Nigeria,” Okoye told Daily Post
According to him, the deregulation of downstream sector will lead to a huge reduction in price of PMS.
He said it will complement the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery.
He added, “And I tell you that within the shortest possible time, the price of petroleum products will crash. This is exactly what happened with the SIM card.
“Before, SIM cards were N5,000, N30,000. Today, with the competition, SIM cards are almost free now.
“So with this competition in this industry, Dangote Refinery coming up, modular refineries will also start producing PMS, and with all the NNPC refineries coming on board now, you find out that the price is going to crash and Nigerians will start to enjoy.”
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye disclosed that the Port Harcourt refinery is currently operating at 90 per cent capacity.