BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
The average retail price of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) paid by consumers increased by 129.10 percent from N235.41 in March 2021 to N539.32 the value recorded in March 2022.
On a month-on-month basis, the average retail price increased from N311.98 in February 2022 indicating a rise of 72.87 percent when compared to the average retail price paid in March 2022.
On state profile analysis, the state with the highest average price for Diesel in March 2022 was Ekiti with N672.14 followed by Lagos and Abia with N668.75 and N645.00 respectively.
On the other hand, the state with the lowest average price was recorded in Bauchi with N408.00 followed by Borno with N432.00 and Yobe with N412.00.
In addition, zone analysis shows that the average price of Diesel was highest in the South-West with N619.11 while the North-East had the lowest price with N450.17.
On the other hand, average retail price per litre of Household Kerosene (HHK) paid by consumers in March 2022 stood at N564.55 from N450.66 in February 2022; this shows an increase of 25.27 percent on month-on-month analysis.
However, year-on-year comparison showed that the average price per litre increased by 56.26 percent from N361.29 in March 2021.
The state profile showed that the highest average price per litre in March 2022 was recorded was Ebonyi with N700.00 followed by Kaduna with N687.50 and Ekiti with N666.67. On the other hand, the state with the lowest average price per litre was Kano with N426.67, followed by Borno with N431.25 and Kebbi with N446.67.
Furthermore, the average retail price per litre of Household Kerosene by zone showed that South-West recorded the highest with N623.49 followed by South-East with N614.89 and South-South with N580.80, while the zone with the lowest average retail price was the North-West with N502.50.
The average price per gallon of Household Kerosene paid by consumers increased to N2011.70 in March 2022 from N1, 559.78 in February 2022, indicating an increase in average retail price by 28.97 percent on a month-on-month basis. However, the price per gallon of kerosene increased by 62.65 percent from N1236.86 in March, 2021.
State analysis shows that Jigawa State recorded the highest average retail price with N2, 265.38 followed by Ebonyi with N2200.00 and Anambra with N2, 185.00. Conversely, Kogi recorded the lowest price with N1, 690.59 followed by Abuja and Sokoto with N1, 800.00 and N1, 900.00, respectively.
In addition, the average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene by zones shows that the average retail price was highest in the South-West with N2, 057.83 followed by South-East and North-West with N2, 063.35 and N2, 028.62 respectively while the North-Central Zone recorded the lowest average price with N 1,975.56.
The state profile showed that the highest average price per litre in March 2022 was recorded was Ebonyi with N700.00 followed by Kaduna with N687.50 and Ekiti with N666.67. On the other hand, the state with the lowest average price per litre was Kano with N426.67, followed by Borno with N431.25 and Kebbi with N446.67.
State analysis shows that Jigawa state recorded the highest average retail price with N2, 265.38 followed by Ebonyi with N2, 200.00 and Anambra with N2, 185.00.
Conversely, Kogi recorded the lowest price with N1, 690.59 followed by Abuja and Sokoto with N1, 800.00 and N1, 900.00, respectively.
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise in its review of the performance of the economy in the first quarter said the escalating cost of energy in the country has had a painful impact on Nigerians as the cost of doing business has risen significantly in the last six months.
CPPE estimates that diesel cost has spiked by about 200 percent in the last six months. The prices of aviation fuel [Jet A1] and natural gas have similarly skyrocketed.
The private sector advocacy and economic think tank organization through its Chief Executive Officer, Muda Yusuf stated that the energy crisis in Africa’s largest economy became exacerbated by incessant collapse of the national grid leading to a sharp drop in electricity supply from the grid and consequent load shedding.
“The situation became unbearable for both households and investors. There were series of blame games among players in the electricity supply chain – the DISCOs, the GENCOs, Transmission Company, the Gas suppliers and the power ministry,” CPPE noted.
Yusuf disclosed that the consequences of these were the escalation of production and operating costs across all sectors. Cost of transportation, especially haulage cost similarly spiked because most haulage trucks are powered by diesel.
He said many businesses were not able to pass on the increase in energy cost to their consumers and many investors have scaled down their operations, while several others have suspended operations.
