On Thursday, July 20, 2023 the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) celebrated the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry with the importation of 27 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as petrol for local consumption by a local company.

The move was in contrast to the monopoly of the importation of the product into the country in the past few years by the National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). LEGIT NEWS reports.Information Guide Nigeria

“When we talk about deregulation, people just think about price increases. Actually, it is not; it is opening up the space for more participation,” Bashir Sadiq, the Executive Director, of Corporate Services and Administration, NMDPRA said at a ceremony to mark the first importation of petrol into the country by a private operator.

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The marketer had taken advantage of the May 29, 2023 ‘subsidy is gone’ declaration in the inauguration speech of President Bola Tinubu to import the 27 million litres of petrol said to cost $17 million into the country. But it is doubtful if most Nigerians will be bothered.

Nigerians were still grappling with the rising cost of living and transportation after the ‘subsidy is gone’ statement led to an increase in the price of petrol from an average of less than N200 to about N520 per litre when the NNPCL further jacked up prices at its outlets to N617 on Monday. Other marketers adjusted their costs with the product selling for N620 and N637 in parts of the country.NYSC Portal