The price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly referred to as petrol, saw a sharp increase in August 2024, rising from N770.54 per liter in July to N830.46. This 7.78% month-on-month increase was reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), following the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) admission of a $6 billion debt in fuel subsidies.
On a year-on-year basis, petrol prices surged by 32.51%, up from N626.70 in August 2023. This price hike is linked to NNPC’s warning about its inability to sustain the nation’s fuel supply due to its outstanding financial obligations to oil traders. The impact of the subsidy debt resulted in widespread fuel scarcity across several states, including Lagos, Ogun, and Abuja, where prices soared past N1,000 per liter in some areas.
According to Nairametrics, NNPC filling stations adjusted petrol prices between N850 and N890, depending on location. The NBS data also revealed that states like Benue (N941.24), Bauchi (N935.71), and Gombe (N925.00) had the highest petrol prices, while Delta (N667.50), Cross River (N672.00), and Edo (N676.25) recorded the lowest.
The North-East Zone had the highest average petrol price at N908.21, while the South-South Zone reported the lowest at N677.11.