The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has quietly increased the prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Ripples Nigeria has learnt.

The prices vary across and within states, with two NNPC retail stations in the same area of Akute Road, Alagbole, Ogun State selling at N568 and N580 per litre.

Recall that in June, NNPC had increased the prices of PMS, also known as fuel, to N500 per litre, from N189 per litre, after the subsidy on petrol was removed.

On Tuesday, NNPC inched the prices of fuel higher from N500 per litre to N568 and N580, while some reports have it that in Abuja, the price is N617.

Also, in other private-owned filling stations, the price has been increased, with Mobil selling at N568 per litre as well.

There have been reports that the fuel price could hit N700 per litre due to the depreciating value of the naira against the United States Dollar (USD)

Since the devaluation of the naira in the official market on June 14, 2023, the dollar rate has climbed to N795.28/$1 and traded as high as above N800/$1, from N471.67/$1.

Oil marketers had stated that there’s no way fuel is imported at a rate around N700/$1 and the fuel price will not hit N700 as well.

President of the Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP), Lawan Dan-Zaki, said: “The former official exchange rate by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not realistic anymore.

“So if an importer is importing product, he has to buy at black-market rate and that will determine how much to be sold to marketers and other consumers.

“If he imports at N700 per dollar, there is no way a marketer will buy at N700 and still sell at same price