Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has said the presence of the Dangote refinery does not necessarily guarantee lower fuel prices in Nigeria.
Speaking on Channels TV’s ‘Politics Today’ programme on Tuesday, Lokpobiri said global market forces influence pricing.
“So the fact that Dangote refinery is here doesn’t mean that the fuel price will be lower, because Dangote refinery is available,” he said.
He said the United States (US) has one of the world’s highest refining capacities but still records higher average fuel prices than Nigeria.
Lokpobiri attributed the increasing price of petrol and other petroleum products in Nigeria to developments in the Middle East.
“It’s expected that energy prices may not come down. You should also know that oil and gas is a global commodity. What is sold in New York is what is also sold here,” he said.
“So no matter what you may think, America or Saudi Arabia or anywhere in the world, energy prices will always be the same.
“You should also know that the difficulty Nigerians are facing is not peculiar to Nigerians. If you go to the US, the purchasing capacity of Americans is also affected.”
“If you go to Europe, the purchasing capacity of Europeans is also affected.”
The minister said the Dangote refinery would not have become an attractive investment without the deregulation policy.
“I also want to emphasize that but for the policy of deregulation, Dangote refinery wouldn’t have been the most attractive IPO in the continent,” Lokpobiri said.
“If government was continuously importing as NNPC was doing, and selling at a lower price than the market price, Dangote wouldn’t have been able to survive.”
Lokpobiri said the deregulation of the downstream sector created a new economy and opened up opportunities for private sector investment.
“The average person has gained from the full benefits of deregulation. In a deregulated economy, there’s opportunity for investments to also come in,” he said.
“So deregulation all over the world is to enable private sector businesses to thrive, and all the businesses that are associated with the oil and gas sectors.”