Fuel Price Gap Emerges Between Imported Petrol and Dangote Refinery Supply
A new price disparity has emerged in Nigeria’s fuel market, with data indicating that imported premium motor spirit (PMS) is currently cheaper than petrol supplied from the Dangote Refinery. According to figures from the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), the average landing cost of imported petrol stood at N721.80 per liter as of Friday. In contrast, the gantry price—the ex-refinery cost—for Dangote Refinery’s petrol is N799 per liter. This creates a price gap of approximately N77.20 per liter between the two sources.
The Dangote Refinery, which began operations last year, previously asserted that marketers could achieve significant savings by purchasing its product. In a statement last week, the 650,000-barrel-per-day facility claimed that relying on coastal delivery of imported fuel, particularly within Lagos, adds avoidable logistics costs. It estimated that coastal transportation can increase the cost of petrol by around N75 per liter. The refinery warned that if these additional costs are passed entirely to consumers, the retail pump price of PMS could approach N1,000 per liter.
However, checks by the Media Talk Africa across filling stations in Abuja on Sunday revealed that retail prices remain significantly higher than either the imported landing cost or the Dangote gantry price. Petrol was being sold between N839 and N905 per liter at outlets operated by major marketers including MRS, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Ranoil, AA Rano, AP, Mobil, Emedab, and Empire Energy.
The data highlights a complex pricing dynamic. While the refinery’s gantry price is higher than the cost of imported fuel at the point of landing, the total delivered cost for importers, including logistics, may narrow or eliminate that gap. The current retail prices reflect a combination of global crude costs, exchange rates, distribution margins, and taxes, irrespective of the original supply source. The situation underscores the ongoing challenges in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector as the country seeks to balance refinery output with import dependence to stabilize consumer prices.
