The Federal Government has said the volume of Premium Motor Spirit – PMS, popularly called petrol, that was consumed across the country in the first half of 2023 is 11.26 billion litres.
It was, however, observed that after the removal of subsidy on petrol, following the pronouncement by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, PMS consumption reduced by an average of about 18.5 million litres daily in June.
Reports say, data obtained from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in Abuja, showed that between January 1 and May 28, 2023, which was the pre-deregulation period, the total amount of petrol consumed nationwide was about 9.9 billion litres, noting that the average consumption for the 148-day period was put at 66.9 million litres, indicating the country consumed an average of 66.9 million litres of petrol daily during the five-month period when subsidy on petrol was still in place.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government agency indicated that between June 1 to June 28, 2023, which was described as the post-deregulation period, the total petrol consumption across the country was 1.36 billion litres, while the average daily consumption was put at 48.43 million litres.
The President, Nigeria Association for Energy Economics, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, moreover said the fuel subsidy regime created avenues for terrible practices, stressing that there had been repeated complaints by both the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and oil marketers that Nigeria’s petrol was being smuggled out of the country to neighbouring nations during the period when the commodity was subsidised.