KEY POINTS
- Dangote Refinery says petrol could rise to N1,400 per litre without local refining
- The company denied claims that its petrol unit shut down operations
- Regulators earlier flagged a gap between expected and actual fuel deliveries
Dangote Refinery has warned that Nigeria’s fuel prices could more than double if the country keeps relying on imported petrol instead of refining it at home. This has sparked a new debate about energy costs in Africa’s largest economy.
Aliko Dangote owns a $20 billion refinery. They said that if local refining capacity isn’t fully used, pump prices could go up to N1,400 per liter in a market without subsidies. The prediction comes after gas prices fell to about N699 per liter during the recent holiday season, which gave consumers some temporary relief.
The refinery said in a statement that recent price changes showed that Nigeria’s downstream sector has serious structural problems. This is because the country relies on imports, which makes consumers vulnerable to changes in global oil prices and exchange rates.
Local refining and price stability
The Dangote Refinery said that its work has helped keep prices from going up too quickly by making fuel importers less powerful. Officials from the company said that without domestic refining, importers would have almost complete control over pump prices.
The facility, which is said to be the world’s largest single-train refinery, says that its presence has brought competition and price discipline to the market. Officials said that relying on imported fuel would undo those gains and raise prices to levels that could be hard for families and businesses to handle.
The refinery also said that keeping up local production is still very important for keeping prices stable and protecting the economy from shocks from outside.
The warning came as the company fought back against reports that its gas station had closed for repairs. The Dangote Refinery said the claims were false and that they were being used to justify new price increases.
Officials said that operations have gone on without a hitch and that fuel trucks have not been turned away. The refinery said it sent about 43.3 million liters of gasoline to the domestic market in a single day, which it said was more than half of Nigeria’s estimated daily consumption.
An official said that the refinery is still working and is still loading products to be sent all over the country.
