ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has resumed the sale of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, in naira, ending its short-lived dollar pricing policy while increasing its ex-depot price by N140 per litre.
The move comes a week after the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery halted petrol truck loading and adopted dollar-denominated pricing, a decision that disrupted the downstream petroleum sector, tightened supply and drove depot prices higher.
The return to naira transactions was announced in a notice issued by the refinery’s commercial department on Wednesday and separately confirmed by industry platform Petroleumprice.ng.
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According to the notice, the gantry price of petrol has risen from N1,075 per litre to N1,215 per litre, an increase of N140 or 13.02 per cent.
The coastal loading price was also adjusted upward from N1,441,575 per metric tonne to N1,602,495 per metric tonne.
The communication, titled PMS Price Change Communication, stated that the new pricing took immediate effect.
It read, “Please be advised that all unloaded gantry volumes will be subject to repricing at the new price, which is effective 22nd July 2026. Kindly proceed with placing your order.
Should you require any further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.”
The notice marks the refinery’s return to domestic petrol sales in naira after its temporary switch to dollar transactions, a development that had raised concerns among fuel marketers and consumers.
Petroleumprice.ng also confirmed that customers had been informed of the resumption of gantry loading under the revised naira pricing structure.
“Yes, the refinery has returned to pricing its product in naira,” the Chief Executive Officer of Petroleumprice.ng, Jeremiah Olatide, said.
The refinery had suspended both gantry and coastal loading on July 15 while introducing dollar-denominated pricing for refined petroleum products.
The move forced marketers to rely on private depots, where prices climbed sharply as supplies became limited.
During the period, the average ex-depot price of petrol at private depots reportedly increased from about N1,075 per litre to roughly N1,275 per litre, representing a N200 rise, or approximately 18.6 per cent.
The policy also led independent marketers to suspend petrol purchases from the refinery, citing difficulties in obtaining the foreign exchange required to pay for products.
Industry stakeholders warned that continued dollar pricing would increase pressure on foreign exchange demand, weaken the naira and ultimately drive up petrol prices across the country.
With Nigeria consuming an estimated 50 million litres of petrol daily, marketers were expected to source about $40m every day more than $14bn annually to sustain purchases under the dollar payment arrangement.
The refinery had defended the temporary switch, explaining that it was no longer receiving sufficient crude under the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude initiative and had to buy additional crude from the international market using dollars.
Under the suspended pricing structure, petrol sold for $0.779 per litre, Automotive Gas Oil for $1.087 per litre and Jet A1 aviation fuel for $0.942 per litre.
A senior regulatory official had maintained that the refinery did not violate the Petroleum Industry Act by selling refined products in dollars.
The official said, “It’s a pretty straightforward issue. The naira-for-crude deal is not to Dangote’s advantage right now because the company is sourcing crude in dollars. He has absorbed a lot. But maybe he has got to a breaking point. So he has to do stuff to recover costs. And that’s why he wants to share that burden with off-takers.”
Following complaints by petroleum marketers over the implications of the policy for fuel supply and foreign exchange demand, the Federal Government stepped in.
The refinery’s latest notice confirms that domestic transactions have returned to naira, although the revised ex-depot price of N1,215 per litre remains below the N1,275 per litre charged by fuel importers. Petroleumprice.ng also confirmed that dollar sales have been suspended for the time being.
Negotiations between the Dangote Group and the Federal Government over the naira-for-crude arrangement are continuing. Industry players believe the return to naira transactions will restore normal product loading and ease the distribution challenges experienced during the week-long suspension.
However, they cautioned that the higher ex-depot price may lead to further increases in depot and pump prices unless market competition or a decline in global crude oil prices offsets the impact.
Meanwhile, petrol prices climbed to around N1,300 per litre in Lagos and several other parts of the country on Wednesday as global oil prices hovered around $94 per barrel amid renewed tensions in the Middle East.