The Federal Government is set to announce the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, sources close to the matter have told BusinessDay.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) informed BusinessDay correspondents that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kwachikwu, is on his way to brief State House correspondents in Abuja of impending deregulation.
Recalled that Kwachikwu had during the second town hall meeting in Kaduna hinted that in the next few days, the new policy which is expected to help address the fuel scarcity crisis, would effectively take off.
“We are coming up with a new policy in the next few days that will allow our fuel price swing along with international pricing,” the minister said.
“We are now transiting into fuel modulating pricing, because we do not have sufficient foreign exchange to continue fuel importation we have been doing.”
Sources say a new price band of between N135 and N145 per litre of fuel has been proposed for marketers under the regime, while adjustments would be made to the ex-depot price in the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA pricing template.
