PH
Abuja – The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has actually said that the price of the petroleum will certainly go down in six months.
The Federal Government had on Wednesday announced the removal of fuel subsidy, with a new petrol price band of N135 to N145 per litre, up from N86 and N86.50.
Kachikwu, who spoke on Thursday morning on Channelstv, said the move was necessary in order to end the lingering fuel scarcity that has bedevilled the country for four months.
He said that no marketer has been told the amount to sell its product, but that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will be hoping to sell at 135 Naira per litre.
He added that the market dynamics would take hold fast “because there are a lot of Nigerians who are very active, very bullish, very talented in doing this; they just have been prevented by government intrusions.
“As it gets better and it gets to a point where we find that the market has stabilised in terms of supply, we will begin to pull back a bit in terms of determinants for pricing.”
He said by opening up the space for people to perform, to practise their trade, “you will be amazed at what will happen to your N145 price because it will go downwards.”
The minister said as a result of the decline in government earnings from oil, it could not provide foreign exchange for the importation of fuel.
