Dangote Refinery Slashes Petrol Price Amid Policy Shifts
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reduced the pump price of petrol to ₦865 per litre, a ₦15 drop from the previous rate of ₦880 that was in effect as of Wednesday.
This new pricing was communicated to the refinery’s customers through a formal notice issued on Thursday morning, as confirmed by Punch and verified on petroleumprice.ng.
This latest price cut comes on the heels of the suspension of the crude-for-naira exchange arrangement between the refinery and the Federal Government, a move that has generated significant discussion within the oil and gas sector.
In recent developments, major oil marketing companies, including MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, have commenced loading petrol directly from the Dangote Refinery, which has a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day the largest in Africa.
Despite the temporary halt in the Naira-for-Crude initiative, the federal government has reaffirmed its commitment to continue the policy. This reassurance followed a strategic review meeting held by the Technical Sub-Committee on the Crude and Refined Product Sales in Naira initiative. The session, which took place on Tuesday, aimed to assess the current progress of the policy and identify hurdles impeding its effective implementation.
The high-level meeting was attended by key government and industry stakeholders. Leading the discussions was Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, who also serves as the Chairman of the Implementation Committee.
Zacch Adedeji, the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), chaired the Technical Sub-Committee. Other prominent attendees included Dapo Segun, Chief Financial Officer of NNPC Limited, and senior representatives from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Refineries, NNPC Trading, Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, and major regulatory bodies.
Also present were officials from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). Hauwa Ibrahim, who serves as the Secretary of the Implementation Committee, was also in attendance.
As stakeholders continue to deliberate on refining strategies and supply frameworks, the Dangote Refinery’s price adjustment signals a noteworthy development in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector potentially offering consumers slight relief amid broader economic pressures.
