Some petrol marketers are now selling fuel below the cost offered by Dangote Refinery, raising fresh competition in the oil sector.
This development comes shortly after Aliko Dangote urged the government to stop fuel importation and protect local production.
Checks in Lagos and Ogun States showed that some filling stations now sell petrol below N860 per litre. One station in Ogun, SGR, was selling at N847 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Dangote’s partners like MRS and Heyden were still selling at N865 to N875.
Industry sources confirmed that many depots are now offering fuel below Dangote’s price. Dangote sells at N820 per litre, while depots like Aiteo and Menj are selling at N815, according to Petroleumprice.ng.
Chinedu Ukadike, spokesperson for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, said the drop was expected.
“Depot owners are dropping their petrol prices. Some of them are selling N815, some are selling N817, while Dangote is selling N820. NNPC is still selling at N825; it has not dropped its prices yet,” Ukadike told The PUNCH.
He said this shows how market liberalisation benefits Nigerians.
“This is the beauty of the liberalisation of the market. That is why we opined that the President should not ban anybody from importing petroleum products. Nobody should be stopped from bringing in petroleum products. That is the beauty of opening up the market,” he said.
While reacting to concerns about poor quality fuel, Ukadike said the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority is already in place to stop the import of bad products.
On the other hand, Dangote is worried. He accused importers of destroying the local market with cheap and sometimes toxic fuel. He warned that this could discourage investors from putting money into Nigeria’s refining sector.
“And to make matters worse, we are now facing increased dumping of cheap, often toxic petroleum products, some of which are blended to substandard levels that would never be allowed in Europe or North America,” Dangote said.
He also claimed that some of the fuel entering Nigeria comes from Russia at discounted prices, making it impossible for local producers to compete.
“Due to the price caps on the Russian petroleum products, discounted petroleum products produced in Russia or with discounted Russian crude find their way to Africa, severely undercutting our local production,” he said.
Dangote urged African governments to copy the steps taken by the United States, Canada, and the European Union in shielding local producers from unfair trade.
He also insisted that the Nigeria First policy introduced by President Bola Tinubu should cover the petroleum sector.
“The Nigeria First policy announced by His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, should apply to the petroleum product sector and all other sectors,” he said.
But marketers are not in support of his request to stop fuel imports. They want the government to leave the market open and let buyers decide based on price and quality.
