The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has said the average price of petrol in Nigeria remains lower than in the United States and several African countries despite the removal of fuel subsidy. Africans& Diaspora
Lokpobiri made the claim on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday, September 22, while defending the Federal Government’s deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector amid concerns over rising fuel prices. According to the minister, the average petrol price in Nigeria is about N1,430 per litre, compared with N1,633 in the United States, N1,959 in Cameroon and N2,070 in both Ghana and South Africa.
“In the US, the average, you know, liter of fuel is N1,633. In Nigeria, it’s on the average of N1,430. If you go to Cameroon, it’s N1,959. If you go to Ghana, it’s N2,070. If you go to South Africa, it’s N2,070,” Lokpobiri said. His comments came as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other marketers reduced depot prices following a decline in international crude oil prices.
Dangote Refinery reduced its petrol depot price from N1,350 to N1,325 per litre, while other marketers also lowered prices across depots in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Warri. Despite the reductions, retail petrol prices remained significantly higher than depot prices in many locations, with recent checks putting the product at around N1,430 per litre in major cities.
Lokpobiri argued that Nigeria’s status as an oil-producing country and the presence of the Dangote Refinery do not automatically guarantee cheaper petrol. He pointed to the United States, which he described as the world’s largest oil and gas producer with extensive refining capacity, arguing that petrol prices there could still be higher than in Nigeria.
The minister said the prices of crude oil and refined petroleum products are influenced by international markets and maintained that Nigeria cannot operate independently of global energy prices. “Oil and gas is a global commodity. What is sold in New York is what is also sold here,” he said, adding that the impact of high energy costs was also being felt by consumers in the United States and Europe. Africans& Diaspora
Lokpobiri also defended the deregulation of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, saying the policy had created opportunities for private investment. He argued that the Dangote Refinery would have struggled to compete if the Federal Government had continued importing petrol and selling it below market prices through subsidies.
“But for the policy of deregulation, Dangote Refinery wouldn’t have been the most attractive IPO in the continent,” he said. “If government was continuously importing, as NNPC was doing, and selling at a lower price than the market price, Dangote wouldn’t have been able to survive.”
Lokpobiri said deregulation was intended to allow private-sector businesses to participate more actively in Nigeria’s midstream and downstream oil and gas industries. He also defended the removal of petrol subsidy, saying the policy had increased funds available for distribution to the federal, state and local governments through the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
According to him, about N2.1 trillion is now being shared, allowing state governments to meet obligations and undertake major projects. Lokpobiri maintained that the Federal Government would not reverse deregulation despite pressure on consumers, arguing that returning to controlled petrol prices would effectively require the reintroduction of subsidies.
He further cited increased domestic refining, the supply of aviation fuel by the Dangote Refinery and oil and gas earnings as evidence of improvements in the sector. The minister said the oil and gas industry remains the major source of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings and maintained that deregulation is necessary to attract further private investment into the sector.