The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has assured that it would protect consumers from exploitative action following plans by oil marketers to begin fuel importation.
The NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, gave the assurance while briefing journalists shortly after a meeting with oil marketers.
Already, three oil marketers will from July this year start importing petroleum products into the country according to the NMDPRA boss.
The meeting is coming exactly two weeks after the announcement by President Bola Tinubu during his inauguration that fuel subsidy had been removed.
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Speaking on the outcome of the meeting, Farouk said the issue of pricing of petrol was discussed with the oil marketers and it was agreed that there will not be capping of prices to allow the forces of demand and supply to determine prices.
He said any marketer that would be allowed to import petroleum products must be able to meet the requirements of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
He said, while NNPC Ltd is allowed to import petroleum products currently, it will be reducing the level of its importation to not more than 30 per cent of the market.
According to Farouk, the need for standardisation of products had become imperative in order to avoid situations where consumers will be shortchanged when products that are of lower quality are imported into the country.
He also said during the meeting, the oil marketers agreed to improve their level of collaboration with security agencies to ensure the smooth movement of petroleum products.
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