The Federal Government last week announced a reduction of the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol from N97.00 to N87.00 per litre. The reduction, which was announced by the Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, was meant to take immediate effect. She also directed the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to ensure that marketers adjust to the new price regime. The reduction came as a response to the falling price of crude oil, which has been on a steady decline in the international market since June 2014.
It is instructive that other countries of the world, oil producing and non-oil producing ones alike, had cut down their petroleum products' prices immediately the crude oil price plunged. As a matter of fact, India has cut its PMS price about seven times since August last year to reflect the contemporary international price of crude oil. The Federal Government's reduction is coming rather late and after much agitation from the public. Moreover it only affects petrol and not other by-products of crude oil like Household Kerosene (HHK) and Diesel Motor Oil (DMO).
...