The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has raised alarm over what it described as unfair exploitation of Nigerians by petroleum marketers, insisting that the current pump price of petrol is far higher than it should be.
At a press conference held in Abuja on Monday, PENGASSAN President, Comrade Festus Osifo, said the current average pump price of N900 per litre does not reflect recent drops in the international price of crude oil. According to him, with global crude prices falling from around \$80 to between \$62 and \$65 per barrel, petrol should now be selling between N700 and N750 per litre.
“In the downstream today, we have seen a trend,” Osifo said. “When petrol sold at about N900 per litre, crude oil was at \$80 per barrel. Now crude is down to around \$62, but the pump price has not dropped. This is exploitation.”
Osifo argued that the price of petrol in a deregulated market should reflect current global realities. He blamed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for failing to properly monitor and regulate petrol pricing.
“The NMDPRA should not sit back and allow fuel marketers exploit Nigerians under the excuse of deregulation,” he said. “The whole idea behind deregulation was to let market forces drive prices—both up and down.”
Osifo explained that crude oil prices and the naira-to-dollar exchange rate make up about 80 percent of the cost Nigerians pay at the pump. He said that using the current pricing template and international benchmark—Platts (PLAT)—petrol should not be costing more than N750 per litre.
“There is a global benchmark we use called PLAT,” he said. “If you check the PLAT cost per cubic metre of petrol, convert that to litres and factor in our exchange rate, you’ll see that the current global oil price means petrol should sell between N700 and N750.”
While acknowledging that fuel importers and marketers are entitled to make profits, Osifo stressed that their business activities must be monitored to prevent abuse. He said it is the job of the regulator to strike a balance between profit-making and protecting the public.
“Yes, we understand businesses need to make profits. That’s not the issue. But when prices go up, Nigerians feel it immediately. When global oil prices fall, Nigerians should benefit too. That’s what regulation is supposed to ensure,” he added.
He also urged the NMDPRA to start publishing a monthly pricing template, which would show Nigerians a breakdown of how petrol prices are determined. He said this kind of transparency would help prevent price manipulation and rebuild public trust in the deregulated system.
“In a deregulated market, transparency is key. We are calling on the NMDPRA to begin releasing the pricing template regularly. This will allow the public and stakeholders to understand how pump prices are being calculated,” Osifo said.
Since the removal of fuel subsidy in mid-2023 by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Nigeria has fully adopted a deregulated petroleum pricing system. The government argued that subsidy removal was necessary to save the economy and free up funds for development.
However, the move has led to sharp increases in fuel prices nationwide, with petrol rising from under N200 per litre in 2023 to nearly N900 in some parts of the country in 2025. Many Nigerians have complained that the policy has worsened inflation and made basic transportation and food more expensive.
The Tinubu government has consistently stated that it would not return to subsidy payments, insisting that market-driven prices would ultimately stabilize. But labour unions, including PENGASSAN and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have repeatedly argued that deregulation must not be turned into an excuse for unchecked profiteering.
PENGASSAN’s latest statement adds fresh pressure on the government to review how deregulation is being implemented and whether the promised benefits are reaching ordinary Nigerians.
“We supported deregulation on the condition that it would bring fairness and reduce corruption. But now it seems only marketers are benefitting while Nigerians continue to suffer,” Osifo said.
He warned that if the situation continues unchecked, the trust that citizens and workers placed in the deregulation policy would be eroded completely.
As Nigerians struggle with high fuel prices and rising costs of living, PENGASSAN’s call for stronger regulation and pricing transparency is likely to reignite the national debate over fuel pricing and the true benefits of subsidy removal.
