TheCable

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the price of petrol surged by 215.95 percent in one year, as that of diesel also increased by 2.60 percent.

The bureau said Nigerians paid an average price of N794.48 for a litre of diesel in July 2023 compared to N774.38 per litre recorded in the corresponding period last year.

In its latest report on the automotive gas oil (AGO) price watch for July 2023, the NBS said there was a decline in the price of the product during the period examined, compared to the previous month.

“On a month-on-month basis, a decrease of -2.62 percent was recorded from N815.83 in the preceding month of June to an average of N794.48 in July 2023,” the report said.

“Looking at the variations in the state prices, the top three states with the highest average price of the product in July 2023 include Niger State (N892.50), Abia State (N890.63) and Enugu State (N872.73).”

NBS said the top three lowest prices were recorded in Bayelsa (N683.20), Anambra/Bauchi (N700.00), and Ondo (N701.58).

Speaking further on price comparison by zones, the agency said the north-central sold at the highest price.

“The zonal representation of average price of automotive gas oil (diesel) shows that the north-central zone has the highest price of N863.10 while the south-west has the lowest price [of] N759.45 when compared with other zones,” it added.

Recently, there have been reports of a significant increase in the price of diesel in some states.

Oil suppliers had said the frequent fluctuation in the foreign exchange market rate was a major crisis facing the industry.

PETROL PUMP PRICE SURGES BY 215% IN ONE YEAR

In another report, titled, ‘Premium Motor Spirit (Petrol) price watch for July 2023′, released on Monday, the bureau said Nigerians paid an average price of N600.35 for a litre of petrol compared to N190.01 in the same month last year.

NBS said the surge indicated a 215.95 percent increase when compared to the value recorded in July 2022 (N190.01).

“Likewise, comparing the average price value with the previous month (i.e. June 2023), the average retail price increased by 9.99 percent from N545.83,” the report reads.

“On state profile analysis, Borno had the highest average retail price for petrol, at N657.27, Abia and Gombe states were next, with N643.13 and N642.22, respectively.

“On the other hand, Edo, Kwara, and Benue States had the lowest average retail prices for petrol at N530.00, N535.44 and N537.00, respectively.

“Lastly, on zonal profile, the north-east zone had the highest average retail price of N630.13, while the north-central zone had the lowest price of N551.58.”

Last week, President Bola Tinubu said there would be no more hikes in the pump prices of petroleum motor spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol.