A price war in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market has intensified, with several filling stations now selling Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) below the N739 per litre pump price promoted by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and its retail partner, MRS Oil.
Checks over the weekend showed that some outlets had shaved a few naira off the Dangote-backed rate in a bid to attract motorists in an increasingly competitive market.
NIPCO sold petrol at N738 per litre, SAO stations at N735, Akiavic at N737, while an AP filling station beside an MRS outlet in Mowe, Ogun State, dropped its price to N736.
The fresh round of cuts follows Dangote Refinery’s decision in December to reduce its ex-gantry price from about N828 to N699 per litre, triggering sharp adjustments across the supply chain.
Since the reduction, importers and depot owners have complained of mounting losses, with many forced to sell below cost to remain competitive.
Industry sources say filling stations in the same locations now track rivals’ pump prices closely to avoid being undercut.
Motorists, in turn, are gravitating towards the cheapest outlets, leaving higher-priced stations struggling for patronage.
Data from the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria put the average landing cost of imported petrol at N762.38 per litre, above Dangote’s gantry price of N699.
Even so, importers have continued to cut pump prices to compete with Dangote-backed supplies, a strategy that has reportedly resulted in losses running into billions of naira across the sector.
On December 12, the Dangote refinery stunned marketers by slashing its gantry price by N129.
Days later, the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, accused some marketers of planning to keep pump prices high despite the reduction and vowed to enforce lower prices nationwide.
“For December and January, we don’t want people to sell petrol for more than N740,” Dangote said at the time, adding that the group would deploy its resources to ensure compliance.
The move initially led to queues at MRS filling stations in Lagos and Ogun states as motorists boycotted outlets selling at higher rates.
The spokesman for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, said pricing had become the decisive factor for survival.
“Patronage will be determined by price. Nobody is regulating you; the market will regulate itself. Wherever fuel is cheaper, that is where motorists will go,” he said, warning that bank interest charges would erode the capital of marketers who failed to adjust.
Meanwhile, the Dangote refinery said petrol supply under its marketers’ arrangement began in October 2025 with an offtake volume of 600 million litres, rising to 900 million litres in November and 1.5 billion litres in December.
In a statement signed by its Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, the refinery said it has loaded between 31 million and 48 million litres of PMS daily since December 16, subject to market demand.
To widen access, the refinery said it reduced minimum purchase volumes from two million litres to 250,000 litres and introduced a 10-day credit facility backed by bank guarantees, measures it said were aimed at improving liquidity and supporting smaller operators.
Addressing a spike in petrol imports in November, the refinery attributed it to import licences approved by the former leadership of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, insisting the development was unrelated to its capacity or supply commitments.
Notwithstanding, the refinery reaffirmed its commitment to reliable supply, transparency and a competitive downstream market, as the price battle continues to reshape petrol retailing across the country.
READ ALSO: Bayelsa Hosts Largest Business Summit
0 Comments