Independent petroleum importers have triggered a competitive pricing showdown by slashing petrol rates below the benchmark set by the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
This aggressive market repositioning comes despite Aliko Dangote’s recent appeal for a federal ban on fuel imports to protect domestic refining investments.
According to a report by Punch, retail sector like SGR (Ogun State) now sell at N847/litre, undercutting Dangote-affiliated outlets (MRS, Heyden) priced at N865–N875 in Lagos/Ogun.
Wholesale Shift: Importers including Aiteo and Menj dropped ex-depot prices to N815/litre, beating Dangote’s N820/litre wholesale rate as of Tuesday
Industry analysts attribute the importers’ pricing offensive to
survival tactics, mitigating losses from Dangote’s earlier price cuts that eroded importers’ margins, preempting potential policy shifts by offloading existing stocks.
Chinedu Ukadike, IPMAN’s National Publicity Secretary, confirmed the trend in the report: “Marketers are dynamically adjusting to sustain operations amid refinery competition.”
“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 disclosed.
He praised this development as demonstrating the benefits of a free market system, advising against any government move to restrict fuel imports.
He said: “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. Implementation and local refining will checkmate unfair pricing. As an indigenous country, you must refine to ensure that you have the best price”.
Regarding concerns about imported substandard petroleum products, the IPMAN spokesperson emphasized that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority maintains strict quality control measures to prevent such occurrences.”
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