The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has forced down the price of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), better known as Diesel, to between N175 to N200 per litre across the country, Vanguard reports.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, the apex oil firm said that the price crashed by 42 per cent over the last six months from N300 per litre recorded earlier in the year, due to strategic intervention efforts by the NNPC towards sustained improvement in the supply of the diesel.

He added that the intervention by the corporation also ensured that ex-depot prices of the commodity dropped to between N135 and N155 per litre.

Ughamadu further said that in the first quarter of 2017, retail prices of AGO, which is one of the deregulated products, shot to an all-time high of N300 per litre in major demand centres across the country.

He said such unpleasant situation placed a huge burden on truck drivers, who need the product for transporting their vehicles; the nation’s manufacturing sector, which requires it to run its operations; as well as on the masses, who need it for household power generation.

Ughamadu highlighted some of the NNPC’s strategic interventions in this regard to include improving the supply of AGO and remodeling of the product distribution to address sufficiency issues across the country.

He said, “Since January this year, we have worked very hard with relevant stakeholders to improve distribution from refinery depots, by implementing a robust loading programme.”

The NNPC further disclosed that as a result of consistent positive engagement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), it equally extended the expansion of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) Foreign Exchange Intervention Scheme to accommodate diesel and Aviation Fuel.

“The general public is hereby assured that the Corporation would continue to ensure seamless supply and distribution of diesel and other petroleum products across the country to make the lives of Nigerians better,” he assured.