The disclosure was made on Thursday by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, during a media session organized to provide a status update on the operations of the oil and gas industry.
The Minister said that the government needs to protect the general public from undue exploitation and prevent inordinate profiteering by oil marketers. He said this has made it mandatory for the Federal Government to closely monitor the price of premium motor spirit (fuel) which currently stands deregulated.
“The role of government in a deregulated environment was to provide a shield for the teeming consumers through the operations of the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) which would use its price modulation mechanism to engender a market-driven price regime.
‘’I am not just announcing deregulation today and let us understand ourselves about deregulation. Deregulation was approved on the 19th of March, this year… but as you all know, PMS and other petroleum products are very strategic commodities, so you cannot allow the prices of these commodities to be determined wholly by the marketers.
‘’Anywhere in the world, if you want to buy anything, you have what is called the recommended retail price, the consumer protection agency would fix a price a price so that nobody can profiteer inordinately from the people,” the Minister said.
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