Experts and marketers have disclosed that petrol prices will rise above N850/litre as the naira-for-crude deal between refineries and NNPC fails.
They asked Nigerians to prepare as the deal’s collapse will shoot up petroleum product prices again.
Marketers also revealed that the development will pressure the naira to lose its stability as demand for the dollar increases. …CONTINUE READING
Following the suspension of the naira-for-crude arrangement between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the Dangote Refinery and domestic refiners, Nigerians have been asked to brace up for higher PMS prices.
The development comes as the parties could not renew the naira-for-crude deal entered into in October last year.
The deal ensured that domestic refineries, including the mega Dangote Refinery, get crude oil in the local currency to ensure availability, better pricing and reduced prices.
With the deal collapsing, marketers and energy policy analysts have asked Nigerians to brace up to pay more for petroleum products.
Dangote Refinery announced a temporary halt to the sales of petroleum products, including PMS in naira as the talks between the NNPC and the facility stalled.
Following the announcement by Dangote, the cost of loading petrol at private deports reportedly rose to N900 per litre from N850 on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
Experts have said this is expected as the Dangote Refinery remains the major supplier of PMS to most filling stations nationwide.
Adeola Yusuf, an energy policy analyst and Team Lead at Platforms Africa told Legit in a chat that with President Bola Tinubu’s May 29, 2023 announcement of total deregulation of the downstream oil sector, the petrol pricing has and will continue to have regular adjustments.
He said that added to the variables responsible for this is the Dangote Refinery, which has become one of the major players in the post-deregulation market.
According to him, with the private refinery’s suspension of petrol sale in naira, an upward review of the price is immediately imminent at filling stations of marketers that get supply from the refinery. He mentioned that the refinery will adjust its price, and this will tickle down to filling stations that get supply from it.
“It may, however, be difficult to generalise the review at other stations that get supply elsewhere before this.
“We must note that NNPC Limited remains the most responsible for the supply and distribution of the product.
“Nonetheless, the Dangote Refinery has, after the start of production, announced reductions in the price at MRS, a station that receives supply from it on two occasions due to benefits accruable from the naira for crude supply.
“The meat of the Dangote Refinery’s latest announcement is for Nigerians who will be getting supply from Dangote through MRS and other marketers to be aware and brace up for an imminent review at those stations,” Yusuf said.
He said this will affect the competition or what some Nigerians described as a beneficial price war that has ensued between Dangote Refinery and NNPC Limited. “The bigger picture is that it is likely going to lead to a monopoly,” he stated.
He asked the parties to fast-track the negotiation to keep lubricating the wheel of a free market and competition, which are the major gains of the deregulation.
