The refinery ends a week-long dollar pricing regime that pushed some depot prices above N1,300 a litre
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has resumed gantry loading of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, in naira, ending a week-long suspension that had forced marketers to source fuel from private depots at higher prices.
The refinery announced the resumption in a statement on Wednesday, fixing its new ex-depot gantry price at N1,215 per litre.
“Dangote Petroleum Refinery has resumed the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in naira, providing a measure of relief to marketers and consumers,” the refinery said. “The Gantry price is fixed at N1,215/litre.”
The new price represents a N140 increase, or 13.02 per cent, from the previous price of N1,075 per litre.
Why Dangote refinery had suspended naira petrol sales
The refinery had, on 13 July, announced it would begin selling petroleum products to marketers in dollars, later suspending gantry and coastal loading entirely around 15 July.
Dangote attributed the shift to challenges in securing adequate crude oil supplies under the federal government’s naira-for-crude initiative, under which local refiners are meant to receive crude in naira to ease dollar demand.
An industry official said the arrangement had stopped working in Dangote’s favour once it had to begin sourcing crude in dollars.
“The naira-for-crude deal is not to Dangote’s advantage right now because the company is sourcing crude in dollars. He has absorbed a lot. But maybe he has got to a breaking point. So he has to do stuff to recover costs,” the official said.
How the disruption affected marketers and pump prices
On 20 July, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said marketers had temporarily stopped loading petrol at the Dangote refinery.
Oyewole Akanni, IPMAN’s zonal chairman for the western zone, said the development followed Dangote’s suspension of loading operations at its gantry, forcing marketers to buy from private depots at considerably higher prices.
“The non-availability of fuel at some filling stations and the closure of others are due to fluctuations in the price of lifting fuel from depots,” he said, adding that private depot owners raised their prices once Dangote stopped selling PMS.
The disruption pushed ex-depot petrol prices in Lagos as high as N1,275 per litre, with some depots quoting over N1,300 per litre, while retail stations in Lagos dispensed fuel above N1,300 a litre during the shortage. The volatility triggered panic buying, long queues and localised supply shortages in Lagos and Abuja.
The refinery’s return to naira pricing is expected to ease supply constraints, though its new N1,215 rate remains below the roughly N1,275 charged by fuel importers. Coastal bulk loading prices were also adjusted, rising from N1,441,575 to N1,602,495 per metric tonne.
Discussions between the Dangote Group and the federal government over the naira-for-crude arrangement are reported to be ongoing, as depot prices across major supply hubs, including Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar, continued to rise this week.
