Dangote Refinery Cuts Petrol Price by ₦25 to ₦774 per Litre

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reduced the gantry price of premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, by N25 per litre, lowering the ex-depot rate from N799 to N774 per litre.

The price cut was announced in a notice issued to marketers by the refinery’s Group Commercial Operations Department, with immediate effect.

“This is to notify you of a change in our PMS gantry price from N799 per litre to N774 per litre,” the notice stated.

The refinery also informed marketers that its PMS lifting incentive programme has ended. The adjustment, it said, is expected to strengthen the competitiveness of locally refined petrol in a market still sensitive to exchange rate movements and global crude oil prices.

The latest reduction adds to a series of price swings over the past year, during which ex-depot prices fluctuated between roughly N700 and above N800 per litre, directly shaping pump prices across the country.

The 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote refinery — the largest in Africa — began supplying petrol in 2024, after commencing diesel and aviation fuel production earlier that year. The project, backed by industrialist Aliko Dangote, marked a significant shift in Nigeria’s long-standing dependence on imported refined products.

For years, Nigeria exchanged billions of dollars’ worth of crude oil for imported petrol, while subsidising the product to keep domestic prices low. The arrangement placed heavy pressure on foreign exchange reserves, particularly as oil revenues declined and dollar shortages intensified.

Since assuming office in May 2023, President Bola Tinubu has scrapped petrol subsidies and floated the naira as part of sweeping economic reforms aimed at restoring investor confidence and strengthening long-term growth. The immediate impact, however, has been steep: fuel prices have more than doubled, and inflation surged to a three-decade high of 34 per cent in June 2024.

Against that backdrop, Dangote’s latest price adjustment is likely to be closely watched by marketers and consumers alike..