Nigeria’s fuel supply is unlikely to be crippled by the escalating conflict in the Middle East, despite rising global crude prices, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said.
Edun spoke against the backdrop of fresh increases in pump prices across the country, driven by volatility in the international oil market linked to the Middle East crisis, which has also pushed up transportation and logistics costs.
Appearing on Politics Today on Wednesday, the minister said current fuel prices reflect market realities under Nigeria’s deregulated petroleum sector, stressing that government price controls are no longer in place.
According to him, petroleum pricing is now determined by market forces, allowing prices to move both upwards and downwards in response to global trends.
“The market price for petroleum products is what has been instilled by Mr President, a mechanism that was missing for so long. It is important to understand that this is not a one-way street,” Edun said.
He pointed to recent price adjustments as evidence of normal market behaviour, revealing that prices had eased after earlier spikes.
“We have seen Dangote reduce prices from around N1,200 to just over N1,000 or N1,050; those are the natural dynamics of the market,” he added.
Edun attributed the relative resilience of Nigeria’s fuel supply to increased domestic refining capacity, particularly investments by the private sector.
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He singled out the Dangote Refinery, owned by Aliko Dangote, as a key stabilising factor.
“The resilience that the Nigerian economy has is coming largely from the fact that we do have that investment by the private sector in refining, and we need to support our refiners just as others are supporting them to keep petroleum products flowing.
“I think we should be thankful at this time for the capacity we have in Nigeria to refine crude into petrochemicals and petroleum products,” he said.
The 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest, began producing petrol in 2024, after earlier rolling out diesel and aviation fuel.
In recent weeks, the company adjusted petrol prices several times, citing fluctuations in global crude oil prices amid Middle East tensions.
The refinery later announced a reduction in prices following a dip in international crude benchmarks, explaining that all crude supplied to its facilities, including under the naira-for-crude arrangement, is still priced against global benchmarks with an added premium.
In a statement, the company said it reduced prices to reflect changes in global markets, stressing that it receives no subsidy on crude oil or foreign exchange.
“All our crudes are priced on the global benchmark price plus a $3 to $6 premium, while foreign exchange is paid at the prevailing market rate,” it said.
Dangote Refinery added that crude supplied under the naira-for-crude framework is converted to naira using the current exchange rate.