Stakeholders in the Nigerian oil and gas industry have warned that the Federal Government's plan to fully remove subsidy on petrol in the coming months could result in consumers paying up to N750 per litre for petrol. The warning was issued during an online workshop titled “Deregulation of the Nigerian Downstream Sector: The Day After” which had representatives from various industry bodies such as ARDA, NMDPRA, MOMAN, DAPPMAN, IPMAN, NRL, PETROAN, FCCPC, PwC, and CITAC Africa in attendance.
The stakeholders emphasized the need for the government to address the challenges facing the sector while expressing their full support for the planned full deregulation of the downstream sector.
Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, the National President of IPMAN, warned that the projected pump price of petrol could rise to N750 after the full implementation of subsidy removal. However, he also suggested that the price could drop to around N500 if the government provided foreign exchange for marketers at the official rate.
Okoronkwo further urged the government to allocate the expected savings from subsidy removal to the provision of palliatives for the masses and to be aware of the possibility of public backlash that may result from the removal of subsidy.