oil marketers have stated that the rise in the cost of crude oil, coupled with the depreciation of the naira against the United States dollar, might lead to a hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.

They revealed there was a sharp rise in crude oil price to 94 dollar per barrel, the highest figure in 2023. Oil had started the year at about 82 dollar per barrel, dipped to 70 dollar per barrel in June, but traded above 92 dollar per barrel in the past week.

Although the Federal Government and its Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had insisted that subsidy on petrol had ended, following the deregulation of the downstream oil sector, operators insisted that the government was implementing quasi-subsidy.

They explained that with the latest rise in crude oil price, the cost of petrol was meant to increase, stressing that if the government insists on leaving the commodity at 617 naira per litre, then subsidy on PMS had been returned quietly.

The dealers explained that the cost of crude oil and the exchange rate of the dollar accounted for over 80 per cent of the cost of PMS.