Photo caption: Petrol pump
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a fresh reduction in the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) across the country, as the competition in the downstream oil sector heightens.
The plant announced that the new rates now range from N875 to N905 per litre, depending on location. The new price regime, which marks a N15 reduction per litre across all regions and partner retail outlets, was posted on the official social media handle of Dangote refinery on Thursday.
It applies to all major fuel marketers in partnership with the refinery, including MRS, Ardova, Heyden, Optima Energy, Techno Oil, and Hyde Energy. In Abuja, Optima Energy reduced its pump price to N895 per litre as of 8:00 pm on Thursday.
The development follows renewed competition between petrol importing marketers and the refinery to control market shares and dictate pricing.
This comes as a new report from Argus said the refinery is awaiting nine million barrels of US light sweet WTI for delivery in June, according to traders, the most for any month since it started up in early 2024.
It said trading firm Vitol sold three two-million-barrel shipments, and trading firm Petraco sold one two-million-barrel cargo and a Suezmax-sized shipment. Only one two-million-barrel cargo of WTI has arrived at Dangote in May to date, after three in April, according to Vortexa.
On the price of petrol, in the earlier pricing template, Lagos residents paid N890 per litre, while prices rose to N920 in the Northeast and South-South regions. With the new adjustment, Lagos residents will now pay N875, while those in the North-East and South-South will pay N905 per litre.
A breakdown of the revised prices shows: Lagos, N875; South-West. N885; North-East. N905; North-West & Central, N895; South-South & South-East, N905.
The Dangote refinery urged consumers to purchase fuel only from its partner outlets and encouraged Nigerians to report non-compliance via its hotline: +234 7074702099 or +2347074702100.
“Our quality petrol and diesel are refined for better engine performance and are environmentally friendly,” the company stated in the notice. Our correspondent gathered that the new reduction follows the return of a refund benefit policy offered to its customers earlier this week.
The development comes hours after The PUNCH reported that independent oil marketers resumed large-scale importation of petrol, as fresh data shows that over 496.17 million litres of petrol were brought into the country within nine days.
Findings using the Tanker Position Report, a document that tracks oil tankers’ movement and was obtained from Blue Sea Maritime by our correspondent on Monday, revealed that 370,000 metric tonnes of petrol were discharged at various depots. These products berthed at sea ports between May 11 and 20, 2025.
On Monday, the 650,000 Lekki-based facility said the naira-for-crude deal allowed it to reduce the price of petrol, which translates to reduced costs at the pumps. This is even as the company affirmed that the prices of petrol will remain affordable and stable.
The company said that despite the fluctuations in global crude oil prices, it has consistently reduced the price of petrol.
The company, in a release signed by its Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, said the decision to maintain price stability reflects its unwavering commitment to supporting the Nigerian economy and alleviating the burden on consumers from the increase in fuel prices by maintaining price stability.
Marketers said the abrupt change in price has caused severe disruption to the system, with over 4,900 petrol retail outlet owners shutting their businesses and thousands of independent marketers scaling down operations.
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria said over 70 per cent of its 7,000 retail outlets have folded due to unsustainable operating conditions. This represents the closure of 4,900 retail stations owned by members.
The President of the association, Billy Gillis-Harry, in an interview with our correspondent, said the issue was exacerbated by a lack of loan facilities from commercial banks.
He said, “PETROAN has over 7,000 retail outlets, and over 70 per cent of those outlets are closed and are out of business today. And the reason is that we struggle to take loans from the bank.”
Meanwhile, the Argus report on Thursday said the NNPC allocated six June-loading cargoes to Dangote, two of medium sweet Escravos, and one each of light sweet grades Brass River, Bonny Light, Okwuibome and Yoho, for a maximum of 6 million barrels.
Market participants expect NNPC to slightly increase its official crude formula prices for June supplies, which should surface before the end of May. Even small increases to official prices would erode the appeal of Nigerian grades compared with WTI.
=== PUNCH ===
