Dangote Resumes Naira Petrol Sales, Raises Ex-Depot Price by N140

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has resumed the sale of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, in naira after briefly adopting dollar-denominated pricing, while increasing its ex-depot price by N140 per litre.

The development comes one week after the 650,000-barrels-per-day refinery suspended truck loading operations and switched to dollar pricing, a move that unsettled the downstream petroleum market, disrupted supplies and triggered sharp increases in depot prices nationwide.

The refinery’s commercial department announced the return to naira transactions in a notice issued to marketers on Wednesday, a development independently confirmed by industry platform Petroleumprice.ng.

According to the notice, the gantry price of petrol has risen from N1,075 per litre to N1,215 per litre, representing an increase of N140 or 13.02 per cent. The coastal loading price also increased from N1,441,575 per metric tonne to N1,602,495 per metric tonne.

The communication stated that the revised prices took immediate effect, adding that all unloaded gantry volumes would be repriced under the new pricing structure.

Jeremiah Olatide, Chief Executive Officer of Petroleumprice.ng, confirmed the refinery’s return to naira-denominated transactions, saying marketers had already been notified of the resumption of loading operations.

During the week-long suspension, independent marketers stopped lifting products from the refinery because of the dollar payment requirement, forcing many to rely on private depots where petrol prices climbed to about N1,275 per litre due to tighter supplies.

The refinery had defended its temporary dollar pricing policy, explaining that it was sourcing additional crude oil from the international market in foreign currency after receiving inadequate supplies under the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude arrangement.

The Federal Government later intervened following concerns raised by marketers over the policy’s impact on fuel availability and foreign exchange demand.

Industry operators believe the refinery’s return to naira sales will restore normal product evacuation and ease distribution bottlenecks. However, they warned that the new ex-depot price of N1,215 per litre could lead to higher depot and retail pump prices unless market competition or declining international crude oil prices help moderate the increases.

Petrol prices in parts of Lagos and other states reportedly climbed to about N1,300 per litre on Wednesday as global crude oil prices hovered around $94 per barrel amid renewed tensions in the Middle East.