Lagos, Nigeria – Na wa o! The Dangote Petroleum Refinery don finally open sales for petrol after one week wey e suspend am. Dem don increase the ex-depot price reach N850 per litre from N820 wey e dey before. Na small increase of 3.66 percent be that, and e don cause new wahala for pump prices everywhere. Dis new price start from Thursday as dem resume loading for the refinery wey fit handle 650,000 barrels of crude every day. Before now, wey the PUNCH report say dem stop sales, e cause some kind palava wey make everybody dey wonder wetin go happen next.
Last week, the refinery send memo wey tell marketers to pause all payment for petrol loading at the gantry, basically freezing allocations. Di memo talk say: “Make una no make any payment to DPRP collection account for PMS gantry. We go give further updates soon.” (E be like say dem dey work on top some secret plan o!)
Now wey dem don resume sales, price don increase, fit lead to pump price wahala for next week around the country. Even though Dangote no still drop any public announcement about di price hike, industry insiders don prophet say na di wahala for crude oil price globally make dem adjust di price. Dem dey import more than half of di crude wey dem dey use from America, so na wetin dey happen for international market fit affect dem like say na di yoke!
But no worry; for diesel matters, Dangote still dey shine like star. Di refinery dey sell Automotive Gas Oil for just N990 per litre for bulk buyers; dis one still better pass di N1,030 average wey private depots dey sell for Lagos and other places.
As we dey talk now, diesel still dey go for N1,010 to N1,050 per litre for private terminals. E be like say Dangote don find way to maintain im advantage for die-sel side, wetin go keep im customers dey come back.
But no be all marketers dey happy, sha. Some dey still fear say di price go just dey shoot up like say na movie. Dem talk say crude price no dey transparent and e go make dem dey on edge. E really be like say we dey travel for bumpy road as di refinery wey don start operation since 2023 dey try expand from 650,000 to 700,000 barrels per day.
Dem expect say dis Dangote refinery go stabilise di Nigerian downstream sector and make we no dey depend on import again, but wetin don happen now show say we still get long way to reach balance.
Last data wey come from di oil sector show say marketers don start to import pass dem dey patronise local refineries. Based on di data wey The PUNCH get from di Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, 71.38 percent of di petrol wey we consume for May and June 2025 na import, while only 28.62 percent na from Dangote refinery wey dey cost billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, price for petrol don stabilize around di country despite Dangote don increase am reach N850. Data wey dey monitored for Petroleumprice.ng show say in most Lagos depots, prices dey between N855 and N860, just small change from di previous trading. Na so e be o! As Pinnacle, Aiteo, and MRS Tincan dey sell for N855, Zamsom, Parker, and A&E dey sell for N859. E don really dey look like say marketers dey try to hold ground for di price matter.
Some terminal operators around Port Harcourt and Warri dey see slight decrease; for example, TSL and Ever don post prices of N872 per litre, dropping by N10 and N8 respectively. E clear say dem dey monitor di market well well, but na time go tell wetin go happen next.
