Monrovia – Margibi County Senator James Emmanuel Nuquay has raised considerations over what he describes as “dangerous and unfair pricing” of petroleum merchandise in Liberia, accusing the Liberia Petroleum and Refining Firm (LPRC) and the Ministry of Commerce of imposing pointless costs that burden customers.
By Obediah Johnson
In a communication to the Plenary of the Liberian Senate on Thursday, July 3, 2025, Senator Nuquay, who chairs the Senate Committee on Public Firms, stated about 16 totally different charges are embedded within the pricing formulation for each gallon of diesel or gasoline bought within the nation.
He claimed that many of those costs are both outdated, duplicative, or arbitrarily imposed with out legislative oversight.
He famous that whereas some charges have been created by means of legislative enactments, others are administrative costs periodically adjusted by the LPRC and the Commerce Ministry. He described the general pricing construction as “alarming and troubling,” citing its destructive impression on the LPRC’s operations and on peculiar Liberians.
“As chances are you’ll bear in mind, LPRC till just lately was the one entity storing petroleum merchandise. The storage charges beforehand lined testing, dealing with, and regulatory oversight. Now, even with the doorway of personal tank homeowners, those self same costs stay in place and are utilized to each LPRC and personal operators,” Senator Nuquay said.
He argued that this association has diminished LPRC’s income potential and undermined its potential to contribute adequately to the nationwide funds. The company’s elevated operational prices, he stated, have led to larger storage costs, which additionally profit personal tank homeowners who should not regulatory entities.
Senator Nuquay revealed that LPRC just lately raised storage charges to US$0.35 per gallon, exceeding the nationwide highway fund levy, and steered this was unjustified. He additional criticized the inclusion of “financing prices” within the petroleum pricing formulation—costs handed onto customers to cowl loans importers use to carry gas into the nation.
He listed the next financing prices per gallon: PMS (US$0.046), AGRO (US$0.052), JET A (US$0.11), and HFO (US$0.09), stating that “not like rice and different important commodities, Liberians are unfairly being made to pay import financing prices on each gallon of petroleum.”
“These are prices that ought to be borne by importers, not handed on to customers,” he stated.
Senator Nuquay additionally decried costs for gas evaporation, at the moment listed as PMS (US$0.03), AGRO (US$0.02), JET A (US$0.03), and HFO (US$0.03) per gallon, noting that this was initially launched when theft at LPRC amenities was excessive. With improved programs and diminished theft, he argued, evaporation costs ought to not be justified.
“There is no such thing as a have to maintain charging the Liberian folks two or three cents for evaporation per gallon when the programs have improved and losses have been minimized,” he stated.
He known as on the Senate to instruct its Committees on Methods, Means, Finance, Vitality, and Judiciary to evaluation the pricing construction and its impression on LPRC income and to advocate applicable coverage adjustments. He additionally proposed that storage costs, just like the Nationwide Highway Fund, be legislated and standardized.
Senator Nuquay emphasised that eliminating financing and evaporation costs would assist scale back gas costs and ease the monetary burden on Liberians.
“There are various important commodities, however on this sector, we’re paying importers for each gallon of gas they carry in, together with their mortgage repayments,” he stated. “A few of these importers have operated for 20 or 30 years. Why ought to we proceed to subsidize their financing?”
Following the communication, the Senate Plenary mandated its Joint Committee on Public Firms, Vitality and Atmosphere, and Judiciary to analyze the matter and report inside a specified interval. The movement was filed by Nimba County Senator Samuel Kogar.
