Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has said petrol is currently cheaper in Nigeria than in the United States and some African countries, despite the Federal Government’s removal of the fuel subsidy.
Lokpobiri made the statement during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today while defending the government’s deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector.
According to the minister, Nigeria’s average petrol price is about ₦1,430 per litre, compared with approximately ₦1,633 per litre in the United States.
He also cited higher average prices in some African countries, putting petrol at about ₦1,959 per litre in Cameroon and ₦2,070 per litre in both Ghana and South Africa.
“In the US, the average, you know, liter of fuel is N1,633. In Nigeria, it’s on the average of N1,430,” Lokpobiri said.
His comments come amid renewed public debate over petrol prices following the removal of subsidy and recent movements in the domestic fuel market.
The minister argued that Nigeria’s status as an oil-producing country does not automatically guarantee cheaper petrol. He pointed to the United States, which he described as the world’s largest oil and gas producer with substantial refining capacity, yet still has a higher average petrol price according to the figures he cited.
The comments also came as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other marketers began cutting depot prices following changes in international crude oil prices.
Dangote Refinery recently reduced its petrol depot price from ₦1,350 to ₦1,325 per litre, while other marketers also announced reductions in different parts of the country. Despite the wholesale cuts, some filling stations were still selling petrol between ₦1,370 and ₦1,450 per litre.
Lokpobiri maintained that the deregulated market was necessary to encourage private investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
He argued that continued government importation and the sale of petrol below market prices could have made it difficult for private refineries to compete, including the Dangote refinery.
The minister also defended the removal of subsidy, saying money saved from the policy is being shared among the federal, state and local governments through the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
However, comparisons of petrol prices across countries can look different when factors such as average income, purchasing power, transportation costs and household expenditure are considered. Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has separately criticised the comparison, arguing that nominal pump prices alone do not show how affordable petrol is to consumers.
For Nigerian motorists, the immediate concern remains the actual pump price they pay, particularly as domestic suppliers continue adjusting wholesale prices.