The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) says Nigerians should expect a reduction in the pump price of the product within the week with the new price projected to be below N1,000.

Recall that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the Dangote Refinery last week announced the reduction of the ex-depot price of petrol to ₦899 per litre in Lagos.

But the pump price of the product has not been reduced in many filling stations. In Lagos, NorthWest filling station sold petrol late last week at N1,000 per litre in Lagos area, according to findings by Political Economist NG. PETROAN has assured that the new cost of the commodity will take effect this week.

“But I believe from today when members start loading from both NNPC and Dangote at this new price reduction, it will reflect in the market,” the president of the association Billy Gilly-Harry said on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s breakfast show Sunrise Daily.

“But also I’ll give kudos to some of our members, some of the leaders in PETROAN, you know, that have done so well, especially in Abuja, for even reducing their prices to below ₦1,000 before even this announcement.

“So, we don’t encourage our members to try to sell products at a loss because our focus is to serve Nigerians. And the only way we can serve Nigerians is when we have the resources to be able to do that. The resources can only be there if we’re making marginal profit enough to pay for the cost of money and make sure that we continue to do business. So, never mind, you’ll see the translation of this reduction of prices in the retail outlets hopefully within the week.”

He said the inability of members to sell in line with the new ex-depot price is due to some of them having old stocks that were bought at higher prices.

“So, this reduction, if you apply it immediately, don’t forget that some of them bought at ₦970, paid transportation costs and logistics that have taken it quite high,” Gilly-Harry said.

“So, by the time it gets to their retail outlets, it’s quite much more than that. And so they must also sell at a profit – minimal marginal profit as provisioned by the PIA. So, That’s the reason.”

He commended Dangote Refinery and NNPCL for the reduction in the price of the basic commodity.