Minister links petrol price hike to COVID-19 vaccine discovery

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has said the recent increase in petrol pump price, from N158 to N168, is attributable to the announcement of the discovery of vaccines for COVID-19.

He stated this on Monday while addressing State House correspondents, after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The minister said prices would continue to be affected by developments in the crude oil market from time to time, adding that the current situation was as a result of a slight increase in the price of crude oil in the international market when Pfizer’s discovery of an effective vaccine for COVID-19 was announced.

He said, “Now what happened recently was because of the announcement of a vaccine for COVID-19 by Pfizer. With that, crude oil prices went up a little bit. If you have been following crude oil prices, you would have seen that crude oil prices went up a little bit, as a result of this announcement.

“So when crude oil prices go up a little bit, then you will see that it instantly reflects on the price of petrol, which is a derivative of crude oil. That’s why you see that there’s this movement and if we listen to ourselves, this is the same explanation we’ve been giving.”