According to him, the NMDPRA will no longer fix prices or release templates for petrol.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Ahmed said that market forces would henceforth dictate prices under the liberalised market.
“As far as we are concerned in the NMDPRA, this is not like before when the PPPRA fixes the price; in a deregulated market, it is the market force that dictates the price,” he said.
He added, “So, it is not about the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited alone. We put the regulation in place, we make sure quality control is complied with, we make sure the product is there and we give licence to prospective importers.
“We make sure we guide the operations of everyone in the sector whether at the depot or wherever the product is but we will not put a cap to say this is what the price must be,” he said.
He said the NMDPRA, the federal government and Consumer Protection Commission would prevent profiteering by petroleum marketers through aggressive monitoring.
Ahmed said that the market would henceforth be modulated to allow the fluidity of prices, adding that though no template spelt out the pricing components of petrol price.
“Based on this, the price would no longer be static but rather depend on the international price of the gasoline market.
“This did not imply that marketers could sell at any price.”
According to him, the NMDPRA and FCCPC will collaborate to curb excesses if certain prices were way above the expected profit margin.
“The market structure will dictate the price swings at every point in time,” he said.
