Kyari says FG Will Continue to Determine Petrol Prices

18 Jul Kyari says FG Will Continue to Determine Petrol Prices

The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, has said that the Federal Government will continue to determine fuel prices despite the firm’s transitioning to a commercial entity.

Speaking during a prerecorded interview with Channels Television, yesterday, Kyari stated that whereas before now the NNPC’s function of being the sole importer may not have been on a commercial basis, it would henceforth charge a fee for the service.

“In the case of the price of petroleum, this is a policy matter. And the NNPC is going to be a supplier to the Federation at a fee. So, the issue of at what price you sell petroleum will be the decision of the state.

The new NNPC is expected to be officially unveiled by Buhari tomorrow.
Kyari reiterated that it would no longer be business as usual, insisting that as a commercial venture, the NNPC would just be a service provider to government, rather than shouldering the responsibility of importation and allowing it hurt the company’s bottom line.

“We will procure the products and we will sell to the state, and will be step on step with the country and literally, I’ve seen no indication at this point in time that the state is ready to change any price of petroleum products. It has nothing to do with our operations.

“For us, what it really means is that this is business for us. We’ll charge them a fee and at any point, so that the company can make money on behalf of its shareholders,” he said during the interview.

Kyari, who also spoke on the new demands on the new NNPC explained that it would henceforth take the issue of transparency more seriously, having earlier joined the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

“The meaning of this is that you’re going to make certain disclosures to your shareholders and to the world community that companies ordinarily are not required to do and we will keep to that because we’re not going to withdraw as a partner company to the EITI.