ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Bayo Ojulari, has assured Nigerians that the ongoing price competition in the downstream petroleum sector will, in the long run, work in favour of consumers.
Speaking on Sunday, Ojulari described the current market pressures as a natural outcome of Nigeria’s shift from near-total reliance on fuel imports to domestic refining.
“Where there is healthy competition, the buyers are the ultimate beneficiaries.
And I think for us, we need to keep in mind that the market will stabilise. After a while, there’ll be some tension, because we’re going through a major transition,” he said while addressing journalists after briefing President Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
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His comments come amid an intense price war in the downstream sector, which has seen petrol prices fall from above N1,200 per litre in November 2024 to as low as N739 per litre at some outlets in December 2025.
The sharp drop has largely been driven by competition involving Dangote Refinery, NNPC and independent marketers.
“At the end of the day, I can tell you that Nigerians on the street are going to be the beneficiaries,” Ojulari said.
Clarifying NNPC’s position in the liberalised market, he stressed that the company no longer sets prices or regulates petroleum products under the Petroleum Industry Act.
“The first thing you have to know is that the PIA did something fundamental. Before the PIA in 2021, which rolled in 2022, everything was under NNPC, including some regulations. The PIA divided the roles of regulation from what I will call the business,” he explained.
Ojulari added, “The NMDPRA is responsible for all downstream regulation and midstream, as you know, and the NUPRC is responsible for all upstream regulations. So it’s very important that Nigerians understand that post-PIA, we as NNPC, we are not regulators.”
He said the PIA repositioned NNPC as “a commercial company, which means a company that needs to compete profitably and be successful profitably,” adding that the firm no longer receives allocations from the Federation Account and must source funding independently “like any other business.”
Competition in the downstream sector intensified from September 2024 following the commencement of petrol production by Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest single-train refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that the average retail price of Premium Motor Spirit dropped by N153 per litre between November 2024 and November 2025, falling from N1,214.17 to N1,061.35, largely due to increased supply and heightened competition.
The price war escalated further in December 2025 when Dangote cut its ex-depot price from N970 to N699 per litre, prompting other market players to adjust prices to retain market share.
MRS filling stations, Dangote’s retail partner, began selling petrol at N739 per litre nationwide, while NNPC outlets reduced prices from N875 to between N825 and N840 per litre depending on location. Independent marketers also followed suit, with some selling as low as N865 per litre.
Figures from Petroleumprice.ng indicate that Dangote Refinery made more than 20 price adjustments in 2025 alone.
The frequent price cuts have posed challenges for marketers who purchased products at higher rates and are now forced to sell at a loss or risk losing customers.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria confirmed that “price competition now determines customer loyalty,” with its spokesperson, Chinedu Ukadike, warning that “any marketer unwilling to adjust prices risks losing patronage and facing mounting bank interest costs.”
Ojulari described NNPCL as “the supplier of last resort,” noting that the company works closely with all major downstream operators, including Dangote Refinery, in which it holds an interest, to ensure product availability.
“For us as NNPC, our focus is to generate more production. As we generate more production, we believe there’ll be more production to feed the refineries as much as possible. We also believe the additional production will create more flexibility in terms of the ability for downstream players to be able to participate effectively,” he said.
He acknowledged that the simultaneous operation of large refineries, including Dangote’s facility and NNPC’s rehabilitated plants, has unsettled the market.
“To be honest with you, by the time you have a refinery like Dangote in-country, which has not been there before, with NNPC refinery now under a major review, such a huge refinery in the country, you can expect the market will be impacted right now.
“All we need to do together is to walk through that reality,” he said. “Reality is a great thing to have a major refinery in Nigeria, supplying West Africa and other parts of the world. The question now is, how do we then ensure that the market forces stabilise so that everyone can be okay?”
Ojulari said NNPCL would “let the NMDPRA manage the issue of competitiveness,” adding that “competitiveness is not easy, and I think in these early stages, we are seeing a lot of tension with willing buyer, willing market.”
Before Dangote Refinery began operations, Nigeria’s petroleum sector was largely dependent on imports, despite being Africa’s biggest oil producer, with NNPC dominating imports and distribution under a subsidy regime.
The removal of fuel subsidies by President Tinubu in May 2023 led to a surge in pump prices from about N195 per litre to over N1,030 per litre by October 2024, compounding economic pressures amid inflation above 30 per cent.
Although the Federal Government attempted to revive the Port Harcourt refinery in November 2024, fuel imports remained critical until Dangote’s output increased significantly towards the end of 2024 and into 2025.
Ojulari said he briefed President Tinubu on NNPC’s production performance in 2025, disclosing that crude oil output had increased from 1.5 million barrels per day last year to more than 1.7 million barrels per day currently.
“Some of those are underpinned by very structural changes within the organization,” he said.
He added that gas production had risen from 6.5 billion standard cubic feet per day to over seven billion standard cubic feet, with NNPC targeting at least 1.8 million barrels per day in 2026 as it works towards the President’s goal of two million barrels per day by 2027 and attracting more than $30bn in additional investment by 2030.
Ojulari also disclosed that NNPCL had completed the welding of the main line of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline, including the River Niger crossing.
“You remember sometimes in summer, we were able to cross the River Niger, which has been a struggle for many years.
“By completing this main line, what that means now is that we can begin to connect, make all the connections to the main line, which we will do in the earlier parts of next year,” he said.
The 614-kilometre AKK pipeline is expected to supply gas to northern Nigeria for industrialisation, fertiliser production and power generation when it is commissioned in early 2026.
“We believe that we are in a good state to be able to commence the implementation,” Ojulari added.