The Minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva, says the recent hike in pump price of petrol, was due to the price increase in refining crude oil.
Briefing State house correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, Sylva explained that since petrol is refined from crude, its price is directly related to the price of crude oil in the market.
He noted that the price of the feedstock from which petrol is refined, is high at the moment hence the increase in the pump price of petrol.
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The Minister gave the assurance that as soon as the price of refining the crude drops, the pump price of petrol will automatically drop.
Sylva maintained that Nigeria’s earnings are not fixed because it is dependent on crude oil price, adding that what happened recently was because of the announcement of a vaccine for COVID-19 by Pfizer, making crude oil prices increase a little.
While noting that these are not the best of times not only for Nigeria but for the global community, the minister insists that the Nigerian government is no longer in the business of fixing pump price and that is the meaning of deregulation and stepping back on subsidy.
He said he was at the presidential villa to brief President Buhari, who doubles as the minister of petroleum, on happenings in the sector.
(Edited by Tunde Orebiyi)
