Nigerians have been told that local production of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol would not change the upward review of the product’s price.
OsunDaily News reports that this is the position of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), following speculations that the petrol production from the newly inaugurated Dangote Refinery in July would beat the pump price of petrol.
According to the NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, the notion that petrol prices would reduce once the country starts domestic production was false.
Kyari during an interview on Arise television in Abuja on Thursday said the Port Harcourt Refinery would be delivered by the end of the year, hence local production is expected to boost, but despite the volume of petrol being expected from both the Dangote and the Harcourt Refineries, the cost of fuel can’t go down.
Kyari said “There is a notion that if the product is processed locally, prices will reduce. Let me make it clear that it is not going to change anything. If you produce locally, the refineries will also input the cost of production and other things and it will be sold at the current price.
“There will also be no subsidy when local production starts because there is no cash-to-back subsidy, this country no longer has the resources to continue with subsidy.”
