The landing cost of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol, was put at N119.66 per litre as of Tuesday, up from N75.15 on January 23.
It increased by N1.07 from N118.59 per litre on Monday, according to data obtained from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.
The daily subsidy on petrol, therefore, rose to an eight-month high of N48.15 per litre on Tuesday, compared to N3.64 on January 23, the agency’s pricing template showed.
Nigeria, which relies on importation for most of its fuel needs as the country’s refineries are in a poor state, has seen a drop in importation of refined petroleum products in recent months, leading to acute scarcity of the products across the country.
Major oil marketers said on Wednesday that they had yet to resume importation of petrol due to financial constraints occasioned by the delay in the payment of subsidy arrears to them by the Federal Government.
The Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, told our correspondent in a telephone interview, “We don’t have money to import. We have been relying on NNPC products.
“At the moment, what we are loading is from the NNPC, and we (major marketers) sell at the government recommended price. I don’t know of other marketers.”
Subsidy refers to the money paid, usually by the government, to keep prices below what they will otherwise be in a free market system.
The global benchmark Brent crude lost almost half of its value between June 2014 and January this year, plunging below $50 per barrel, but has rebounded in recent months. It traded around $64 per barrel on Wednesday.
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