FG Says Monthly Petrol Consumption Dropped by 18.5 Million Litres as Depot Prices Crash
- Monthly petrol consumption in Nigeria plummeted to 18.5 million litres
- Data was released by Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA)
- The average consumption for the 148-day period was put at 66.9 million litres
According to a federal government statement, the volume of petrol consumption across the country in the first half of 2023 was put at 11.26 billion.
However, after the subsidy was removed from the product, petrol consumption dropped by an average of 18.5 million litres daily in June.
Source: Getty Images
Nigerians now consume an average of 48.43 million litres daily
Data released on Sunday, July 9, 2023, by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (MDPRA) indicates that between January 1 and May 28, 2023, before the deregulation period, petrol consumption was about 9.9 billion litres.
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The average consumption for the 148 days was at 66.9 million litres, showing that Nigeria consumed about 66.9 million litres of petrol per day during the first five months when the subsidy subsisted.
But figures from MDPRA showed that from June 1 to June 28, 2023, described as the post-deregulation period, total petrol consumption across Nigeria was about 1.36 billion litres, while the average daily consumption was 48.43 million litres.
A study of the data indicated that the difference between the average daily consumption figures before the deregulation and after was about 18.5 million litres.
The development implies that the average daily petrol consumption across the country plummeted by about 18.5 million litre post-subsidy removal by the federal government.
Petrol consumption increased by above 100 million litres on some days and dropped to 10 million on others.
April 20 2023 records highest petrol consumption in Nigeria
Petrol consumption figures randomly picked from the NMDPRA data showed that on March 8, April 20, and May 16, Nigerians consumed 103.6 million litres, 105.02 million litres, and 101.9 million liters, respectively.
Punch reports that the NMDPRA figures showed that the 78.84 million litres consumed on April 20, 2023, is the highest figure since the petrol subsidy ended in Nigeria, while the lowest figure for the period was recorded on June 11, with 470,000 litres of petrol consumption.
Analyst calls petrol subsidy a scam
Energy Policy analyst Adeola Yusuf told Legit.ng that the petrol subsidy cost Nigeria so much money that the country looked stupid.
"There were a lot of scams involved in petrol subsidy. You will wonder where all the petrol went." How many Nigerians own vehicles?
"It is projected that there are about 11.8 million vehicles on Nigerian roads and over 200 million Nigerians." So who was consuming the petrol?" Yusuy said.
He said that Nigeria's large companies and manufacturing organizations do not run on petrol but mainly diesel, which has since been deregulated.
He described the petrol subsidy as a terrible idea that needed scrapping.
Marketers crash petrol prices at depots amid low demand
Legit.ng reported that private depots have crashed petrol prices despite speculations of an increase to N700 per litre in July.
Private depots crashed their prices to between N495 and N496 per litre from between N502 and N503.
The Nation report said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) depot maintained its N49.6 per litre price.
Source: Legit.ng
