The Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) was on Friday forced to pull down the template for petrol pricing for the month of March from its website.
The decision followed angry reactions caused by the agency’s midnight publication of increase of petrol price from N165 to over N200 per litre.
The template tagged ‘guiding price’ had said the recommended retail price was between N209.61 and N212.61 per litre.
The landing cost of petrol was put at N189.61.
The ex-depot price, which is the rate marketers get the product, was fixed at N206.42
By Friday morning, many filling stations in the Lagos metropolis had adjusted the meters to reflect the new price increase.
Few filling stations in that did not adjust the pump price witnessed long queues while some displayed ‘No petrol’ signs on their price display boards.
However, following the outrage that greeted the nocturnal price adjustment, the pricing agency on Friday deleted the price increase from its website.
In its place, PPPRA explained that the document it released around midnight was just a guide on the market situation.
“Be informed that published prices are only indicative of current market trends,” it stated.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it had not changed its statement earlier in the month that there would be no fuel price increase in March.
It stated on its official Twitter handle that “There shall be no increase in ex-depot price of PMS in March.”
