Nigeria has formally deregulated the downstream of the petroleum industry, as it announced that the marketers, as driven by market forces of demand and supply, would now determine prices of all petroleum products.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the agency that oversees the prics of petroleum products in Nigeria said in a document released on Thursday that it has removed the cap on the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol.

The agency said that it made the regulations with the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The agency said that the regulations sought to complement and enforce the provisions of the PPPRA (Establishment) Act, 2003, and to notify the general public of the existence of a market-based pricing regime for PMS with effect from March 2020.

The document, titled: “Market Based Pricing Regime for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) Regulations, 2020,” and signed  by PPPRA Executive Secretary, Mr Abdulkadir Saidu, stated that henceforth, the price of PMS would be determined by market forces.

The agency said that it would continue to monitor trends in the crude oil market and advise the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and oil marketers on monthly guiding price for the commodity.

According to the statement, “from the commencement of these regulations, a market-based pricing regime for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) shall take effect. The agency shall monitor market trends and advise the NNPC and oil marketing companies on the monthly guiding Market-Based Price.

“The price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) advised by the agency shall be guiding retail price at which the product shall be sold across the country. The regulations may be cited as the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) Market Based Pricing Regime Regulations, 2020, made this 20th day of March, 2020.”