Nigerians pay more for fuel amid Dangote-NNPCL crude dispute

According to reports, filling stations that had agreements with the Dangote refinery adjusted their pumps to the new pricing, resulting in an almost N70 increase in fuel prices.

The price of a litre of petrol has gone up from ₦860 to ₦930 at filling stations in Lagos, the commercial metropolis of

Nigeria. This means that consumers now have to pay at least ₦70 more than they did a few days ago for the luxury good.

The price increase has also taken effect in other areas of the country, such as Abuja and major northern towns, where

gas stations now charge between ₦950 and ₦970 per litre, depending on the station. From the starting price of ₦880

last week, this marked a significant rise of roughly ₦70 to ₦90.

Filling stations with special arrangements with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, such as Heyden, Ardova Plc, and MRS

Oil & Gas, have adapted their pumps to the new price, according to news correspondents in Lagos and Abuja.

Matrix Energy, North-West Petroleum, Total Energies, Mobil, Bovas, and Enyo were among the petrol stations that did same.

The declaration by Dangote Refinery to temporarily stop selling petroleum products in Naira was followed by the new pricing structure.

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“This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations,

which are currently denominated in US dollars,” the company said in a statement earlier in March 2025.

The $20bn refinery based in Lagos said the sales of its products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-

denominated crude it has received from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” the company explained.

The refinery stated that it was still dedicated to serving the Nigerian market and that as soon as it got crude cargoes

from the NNPCL in Naira, it would start selling its product again to the local market there.

The refinery made the declaration in the midst of its pricing dispute with the NNPCL.

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest billionaire and industrialist, owns a $20 billion refinery that cut the ex-depot price of

petrol from 890 to 825 per litre on February 26, 2025.

The premium product is now sold to customers at ₦860 per litre in a few locations in Lagos, ₦870 in the South-West,

₦880 in the North, and ₦890 in the South-South and South-East under the new arrangement. In recent years, Dangote

has significantly lowered the price of diesel.

Nearly instantly, the NNPCL in Lagos lowered its retail pricing from ₦945 to ₦860, and other NNPCL locations in the Federation states followed suit.