The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a new reduction in the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) across Nigeria, as competition intensifies in the downstream oil sector. The refinery stated that the new prices range from N875 to N905 per litre, depending on the location. This adjustment reflects a N15 decrease per litre across all regions and partner retail outlets. The updated pricing was shared on the official social media handle of Dangote Refinery on Thursday.
The new rates apply to all major fuel marketers partnering with the refinery, including MRS, Ardova, Heyden, Optima Energy, Techno Oil, and Hyde Energy. For instance, in Abuja, Optima Energy reduced its pump price to N895 per litre as of 8:00 pm on Thursday.
This development follows renewed competition between petrol-importing marketers and the refinery to control market shares and influence pricing.
A recent report from Argus indicated that the refinery is expecting nine million barrels of US light sweet WTI crude for delivery in June, according to traders. This volume is the highest for any month since the refinery commenced operations in early 2024. The report mentioned that trading firm Vitol sold three two-million-barrel shipments, while 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 so far, after three in April, according to Vortexa.
Regarding the petrol prices, the earlier pricing template had Lagos residents paying N890 per litre, with prices rising to N920 in the Northeast and South-South regions. With the new adjustment, Lagos residents will now pay N875, while those in the Northeast 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 +234 7074702100.
“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.
This development comes hours after reports indicated that independent oil marketers resumed large-scale importation of petrol. 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 seaports between May 11 and 20, 2025.
On Monday, the 650,000-barrels-per-day Lekki-based facility stated that the naira-for-crude deal allowed it to reduce the price of petrol, translating to reduced costs at the pumps. The company affirmed that petrol prices will remain affordable and stable.
The company noted that despite fluctuations in global crude oil prices, it has consistently reduced the price of petrol.
In a release signed by its Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, the company stated that 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 reported that 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 stated that 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.
“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,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Argus report on Thursday indicated that the NNPC allocated six June-loading cargoes to Dangote, comprising two of medium sweet Escravos, and one each of light sweet grades Brass River, Bonny Light, Okwuibome, and Yoho, totaling 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.
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