Despite the recent commencement of the deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the Federal Government will continue to intervene in determining the retail pump price of petrol.

The Minister said the continued intervention in the pricing process was the responsibility and duty the government owes Nigerians to protect and safeguard fuel consumers from exploitation by oil marketers.

Mr Sylva gave the clarification in his office in Abuja to explain why the government appears not to allow market forces to determine the fuel price at the pump since its latest effort at deregulation began on March 19.

He said if the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) does not continue to interface with the marketers in determining the prices of PMS, the oil marketers would fix the prices arbitrarily and exploit consumers.

LPG penetration

Mr Sylva said the Federal Government was considering kick-starting the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) penetration policy by June ending, maybe after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to postpone the commencement twice, in April and May 2020.