LOKPOBIRI SAYS NIGERIA’S PETROL STILL CHEAPER THAN US, SOME AFRICAN NATIONS

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has said the average price of petrol in Nigeria remains lower than what consumers pay in the United States and several African countries. Lokpobiri made the comparison while defending the Federal Government’s deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector amid continued concerns over the high cost of fuel in Nigeria.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, the minister said petrol was selling at an average of about N1,430 per litre in Nigeria, compared with approximately N1,633 in the United States. He also cited higher average prices of about N1,959 in Cameroon and N2,070 in both Ghana and South Africa. His comments came shortly after the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other marketers reduced their depot prices following a decline in international crude oil prices.

Lokpobiri argued that Nigeria’s status as a major oil-producing country does not automatically mean that petrol must be sold at a lower price. He pointed out that the United States is the world’s largest oil and gas producer and also has significant refining capacity, yet its petrol price remains higher than Nigeria’s average. According to him, the availability of the Dangote Refinery alone cannot determine the final price of petrol because several market factors influence the cost of the product.

The minister also defended the government’s decision to deregulate the downstream petroleum sector, saying the policy was designed to encourage private-sector investment and allow businesses in the oil and gas industry to operate under market conditions. He argued that continued government importation of petrol and sale below market prices would have made it difficult for private refineries, including the Dangote Refinery, to operate sustainably. He said deregulation had instead helped create a new economic environment for investment in the sector.

Lokpobiri further defended the removal of petrol subsidy, saying the savings were being distributed among the Federal, state and local governments through the Federation Account Allocation Committee. He said the monthly allocation had risen to about N2.1tn and argued that states were now able to undertake larger projects partly because of the additional funds generated from subsidy savings. He maintained that the government would not reverse the deregulation policy despite pressure over fuel prices, while pointing to increased domestic refining, aviation fuel supply and the contribution of oil and gas to Nigeria’s foreign reserves as developments from the sector.