KEY POINTS
- Dangote says petrol should not sell above N740 per litre nationwide, with refinery gate price now at N699
- MRS stations in Lagos are expected to begin reflecting the new price as supply ramps up
- The move sharpens tensions with regulators and marketers as pump prices remain far higher across Nigeria
Aliko Dangote has said Nigerians should not be paying more than N740 per litre for petrol nationwide, setting out an aggressive push to force prices down as his 650,000 barrel a day refinery ramps up distribution.
Speaking during a briefing at the Lekki refinery over the weekend, the president of Dangote Refinery said selected retail outlets, starting with MRS stations in Lagos, would begin reflecting the lower price from Monday. He insisted that with local refining capacity now in place, higher pump prices could no longer be justified.
Dangote said the refinery had adjusted its pricing structure to support independent marketers and accelerate nationwide supply, adding that the company was prepared to absorb short term pressures to stabilise the market during the festive period and into the new year.
“We are going to use whatever resources we have to make sure the price comes down,” he said. “For December and January, we don’t want anyone selling petrol above N740 anywhere in the country.”
Refinery pricing move sharpens confrontation with regulators and marketers
Dangote accused unnamed interests of deliberately keeping prices high to undermine both the refinery and government policy, vowing to confront what he described as sabotage across the downstream sector. He said petrol was now available ex depot at N699 for marketers willing to lift products directly from the Lekki plant.
According to him, the refinery expects to normalise deliveries within seven to ten days as logistics improve, stressing that supply constraints rather than production were the main bottleneck in achieving uniform pricing nationwide.
His remarks came days after the refinery slashed its gantry price by N129 to N699 per litre, a move widely seen as an attempt to edge out fuel importers, depot owners and middlemen who have dominated Nigeria’s fuel supply chain since deregulation.
Dangote also called for a probe into the leadership of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, intensifying a public dispute with regulators as competition deepens in the fuel market.
Despite the refinery’s price cut, petrol was still selling at significantly higher levels across much of the country as of Sunday night. Retail prices at stations operated by NNPC, MRS, Mobil, NIPCO, AP Ardova and others were reported to range between about N905 and N937 per litre, highlighting the gap between refinery pricing and what consumers are paying at the pump.
