Petrol importers in Nigeria are facing growing losses as the cost of bringing in fuel has now surged past Dangote Refinery’s prices.
According to figures from the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), the landing cost of petrol hit ₦872 per litre on April 28 and slightly dipped to ₦868 on April 29. Just days earlier, on April 23, it stood at ₦859.
These rising figures have now overtaken Dangote Refinery’s ex-depot price of ₦835 per litre, making it nearly impossible for fuel importers to stay profitable.
Market data shows that Dangote sold petrol for ₦840 on Thursday, May 1, a price matched by Matrix (Lagos) and Rainoil.
However, other depots offered much higher rates: Pinnacle, Mao, Sahara, and AA Rano all listed their prices at ₦889. First Fortune sold at ₦868, Sigmund at ₦875, and Liquid Bulk and Matrix (Warri) at ₦870.
Prices also vary by location. Buyers in Lagos pay slightly less, while those sourcing fuel from the South-South face higher prices due to logistics costs.
Billy Gillis-Harry, President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), said the volatility in petrol pricing has made business extremely tough.
“Business has been very slow, with the up and down price of PMS from arbitrary changes that are not effectively managed by the market forces,” he said in an interview.
Still, he insisted his members remain committed to ensuring Nigerians have access to fuel.
“Regardless of how things are, we have to do business and keep Nigeria’s economy growing. That’s our covenant with Nigeria. That’s PETROAN’s covenant,” Gillis-Harry said.
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He added that while challenges remain, “the government is doing its best, and I think that we will get to the point where business will be beneficial to the consumers and those of us in the business.”
Meanwhile, some stations are already slashing pump prices in a bid to stay competitive. Along the Sagamu-Benin and Lagos-Ibadan expressways, SGR is selling petrol for ₦855 per litre, lower than prices listed by Dangote’s partners. In Ogun State, MRS stations are selling at ₦890 and Heyden at ₦885.
The wave of price reductions follows the resumption of the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude deal with Dangote.
When the deal was temporarily suspended in March and Dangote stopped selling in naira, importers quickly raised prices to about ₦950 per litre. But with the deal now reinstated indefinitely, Dangote dropped prices back to under ₦900.
Still, the move has been a double-edged sword. Importers say the lower prices are eating into their margins, forcing many to sell at a loss to stay in business.
A recent report by S&P Global confirmed that Dangote’s pricing strategy is indirectly fuelling more imports into the country.
While global crude prices have dropped sharply, by nearly 18% between April 1 and 9, Dangote’s price adjustments have been marginal.
“Between April 1 and April 9, the Eurobob M1 swap fell from $734.25 per metric tonne to $603/MT, a 17.9 per cent fall. But over the same period, Dangote’s truck price at the gantry dropped just 1.7 per cent from ₦880/litre to ₦865/litre, and later to ₦835,” S&P Global stated.
This slight reduction, according to the report, has encouraged a flood of imported fuel into West Africa, as high local prices continue to attract international traders.