The consumption of Premium Motor Spirit (popularly called petrol or fuel) nationwide dropped to an average of about 18.5 million litres daily in June – from an average of 66.9 million litres in the pre-subsidy era this year, to 48.43 millions litres between 1st to 30th June.
In his inaugural address on 29th May, President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy and the pump price immediately shut up skyrocketed from N195 per litre (officially) to between N488 and N557 per litre, depending on the part of the country.
According to the data by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), fuel consumption nationwide between 1st January and 28th May, this year was about 9.9 billion litres, while it is 1.36 billion litres post-deregulation period.
Fuel consumption rose above 100 million litres in some days, while it fell to below 10 million litres in few other days.
A random pick of petrol consumption figures contained in the NMDPRA report, for instance, showed that on 8th March, 20th April, and 16th May, 103.6 million litres, 105.02 million litres, and 101.9 million litres respectively were consumed.
Figures from the post-deregulation period however showed that the country never consumed beyond 78.84 million (on 20th June) litres daily. While 20th June produced the highest figure of 78.84 million, the lowest figure was 470,000 litres on 11th June.
According to the he President of the Nigeria Association for Energy Economics, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, the fuel subsidy regime created avenues for terrible practices.
Omorogbe said the removal of fuel subsidies was a right step despite the harsh impact.
There had been repeated complaints by both the NNPC Limited and oil marketers that Nigeria’s petrol was being smuggled out of the country to neighbouring nations during the subsidy period.
Credit: The PUNCH
