The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), has warned that the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol in Nigeria could rise to as much as N1,000 per litre if the petrol subsidy is removed ‘without an alternative energy source.’
DPR Director, Sarki Auwalu, stated this while responding to questions and comments generated by a paper he delivered in Lagos over the weekend, at the Second Quarter, 2021 Business Dinner of Petroleum Club, Lagos, PUNCH reports.
Responding to the subsidy concerns and the disparity in the petrol consumption figures given by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the DPR, Auwalu acknowledged that Nigeria was spending so much on petrol subsidy.
He said eliminating it would require making alternative fuel available to Nigerians and that failure to do that could plunge Nigerians into paying higher petrol prices when the subsidy is removed.
According to a statement on the DPR website titled, ‘DPR: Without Alternative Energy, Petrol Price Will Rise On Subsidy Removal’ Auwalu stressed that Nigerians may pay as much as N1, 000 to buy one litre of petrol in the country when subsidy on petrol is removed and when the alternative energy or autogas policy becomes fully operational.
He, however, said the alternative fuel regime comes with initial cost as it will lead to spending $400 to convert one vehicle from running on petrol or diesel to running on either Liquefied Natural Gas or Compressed Natural Gas.
Auwalu maintained that converting eight million public vehicles currently present in Nigeria to gas-powered will cumulatively cost $3.2 billion to achieve.
