It makes no sense for oil to be cheaper in Nigeria than Saudi Arabia —Buhari

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The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd.) , says it makes no sense for Nigeria to sell petroleum products at prices lower than those sold in neighbouring countries .
He made this known on Thursday morning while delivering a speech on the occasion of Nigeria’ s 60 th Independence Anniversary at Aso Villa , Abuja .
Buhari said, “ Fellow Nigerians , in addition to public health challenges of working to contain the spread of the Coronavirus, we have suffered a significant drop in our foreign exchange earnings and internal revenues due to 40 per cent drop in oil prices and steep drop in economic activities , leading to a 60 per cent drop in government revenue .
“ Our government is grappling with the dual challenge of saving lives and livelihoods in face of drastically reduced resources .
“ In this regard , sustaining the level of petroleum prices is no longer possible . The government , since coming into office has recognized the economic argument for adjusting the price of petroleum . But the social argument about the knock- on effect of any adjustment weighed heavily with the government . ”
Continuing , the President added , “ Petroleum prices in Nigeria are to be adjusted . We sell now at N 161 per litre . A comparison with our neighbours will illustrate the point.
“ Chad , which is an oil -producing country , charges N 362 per litre . Niger , also an oil – producing country , sells oil at N 346 per litre . Ghana, another oil -producing country , petroleum pump price is N 326 per litre . Further afield, Egypt charges N 211 per litre . Saudi Arabia charges N 168 per litre .
“ It makes no sense for oil to be cheaper in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia . ”

Credit: PressExpress




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