The retail price of diesel is expected to surge to N1500 per litre in the coming days amid naira depreciation and rising global oil prices, BusinessDay findings have shown.

“With the geopolitics in the global oil sector and Nigeria’s foreign exchange crisis, the price of diesel will top N1500,” a top official of one of the oil marketers with the pseudonym, Abigail Rice, told BusinessDay on Friday.

“They are punishing everyone in the world,” said Rice, in reference to Russia’s drop in diesel exportation on the back of retaliation to sanctions from the West.

The export of diesel fuel, which is used for heating, transportation, and industrial activities, was banned in Russia as the winter in the northern hemisphere draws near and markets are already constrained globally. This has raised fears in many that Moscow is weaponising oil supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions.

Brent crude oil rose to $93.78 per barrel on Friday while Nigeria’s exchange rate plunged toward N1000 in the parallel market amid a stampede for dollars.

BusinessDay observed that filling stations along Ikorodu Road, Lagos sold at various prices between N920 and N1115 per litre on Friday. At TotalEnergies, it was sold for N1115; AP, N920. NNPC at Kingsway Alfred Rewane Road, Ikoyi was dispensing it at N920.

“Diesel is selling for N1030 per litre in Delta state, according to the report I got from my team,” said Abdulkadir Mustapha, the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria in Borno state.

He said the product is available in the market across the country but its affordability poses a problem.

“We are in trouble,” said Mustapha. “The price of the product is high and it’s also taking 3 – 4 days to transport it on the back of bad roads.”

Efforts to reach some marketers to provide clarifications on the issues were unsuccessful.

Source- Business Day Newspaper.