TheCable

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the price of automotive gas oil (AGO), better known as diesel, has increased by 2.54 percent in one month. 

By implication, Nigerians paid an average price of N671.08 for a litre of diesel in May 2022 compared to N654.46 paid in April 2022.

NBS said this in its latest report on automotive gas oil (diesel) price watch for May 2022.

“On a month-on-month basis, the average retail price increased from N654.46 in April 2022, indicating a rise of 2.54 percent when compared to the average retail price paid in May 2022,” the report said.

“On state profile analysis, the state with the highest average price for diesel in May 2022 was Ekiti with N716.15, followed by Osun and Oyo with N716.00 and N707.33 respectively.

“On the other hand, the state with the lowest average retail price was Yobe with N560.00, followed by Bauchi and Delta with N570.00 and N624.44 respectively.”

Across the geopolitical zones, the report showed the average price of diesel was highest in the South-West with N705.60, while the North-East had the lowest price with N639.00.

TheCable had reported that the ex-depot price crossed N500/litre, causing fuel stations to adjust their pump prices to current market realities.

The development is coming amid fears that the United States and its European allies will ban imports of Russian crude.

Luke Ofojebe, head of research, Vetiva Capital, had told TheCable that the hike in diesel price was due to disruption in the global oil market.

Ofojebe said the reason is that Nigeria still depends on imported petroleum products from other advanced countries — and high oil prices translate to high landing costs for the products.

He added that since petrol is regulated, its pump price will remain relatively stable but will lead to high subsidy expenses on the part of the government.