Business
Petrol pump price may drop as Dangote, marketers sign deal
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has secured an agreement with Dangote Petroleum Refinery to lift products directly.
This, according to the association, will ensure the availability of petroleum to Nigerians at a cheaper rate.
IPMAN’s National President, Abubakar Garima, announced this at a press briefing on Monday in Abuja, following a meeting of the National Working Committee of the association.
He explained that the Dangote refinery had obliged IPMAN to lift PMS, AGO and DPK directly for onward supply to IPMAN depots and retail outlets. This new arrangement with the Dangote refinery would ensure a steady and ceaseless supply of PMS products all over Nigeria at an affordable rate.
He said, “Following our recent meeting with Alhaji Aliko Dangote and members of his top management staff in Lagos, we are happy to state the following; Dangote Refinery has obliged IPMAN to lift PMS, AGO and DPK directly for onward supply to IPMAN depots and retail outlets. That this new arrangement with the Dangote refinery will ensure a steady and ceaseless supply of PMS products all over Nigeria, at an affordable rate for Nigerians also.”
On October 29, the founder of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, said the refinery held over 500 million litres of petrol, but added that oil marketers were not buying his product.
In a counter-response, IPMAN said its members had been unable to load petrol from the Dangote refinery for days. Garima said the association paid N40bn to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, but still cannot source the product – but the refinery said it has not received any payment from the IPMAN for refined petroleum products.
Speaking further at the briefing, Garima urged IPMAN members to support Dangote Refinery, citing backward integration benefits and positive impacts on Nigeria’s Foreign Exchange market.
Regarding pricing, Garima expressed confidence that negotiations with Dangote would yield lower rates.
“All IPMAN members should fully support the Dangote refinery, as it’s the ideal thing to do considering the monumental benefits of backward integration and the medium to long-term impact it will have on the Foreign Exchange markets in Nigeria.
“IPMAN members nationwide should rely on the Dangote refinery and Nigerian rfineries for their white products, as this will translate into ensuring more job opportunities in Nigeria, as well as signify total support for President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda,” he added.
Commenting, an Energy expert Kelvin Emmanuel, said the new agreement would eliminate financing and margin costs incurred by the NNPCL.
He said, “What is cheery about this news is that NNPC’s letter of credit as financing cost ($28 per metric tonne) that is passed to IPMAN — controlling 30,000 retail stations and their margin ($26.48 per metric tonne) will be removed.”
The IPMAN president also stated that the association is preparing for a smooth transition to nationwide CNG refill stations, as it is currently in negotiations with the presidential CNG initiative.
“On CNG, I would also like to call on all our members at IPMAN to begin to put all types of machinery in place for a successful transition of the Federal Government’s plans to initiate CNG refill stations in all our outlets. Truly there is no doubt that CNG has the potential to rejuvenate our economy for a better life for Nigerians, and IPMAN is ready to give her all to support the CNG initiative.
“IPMAN is also calling for a partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria to hasten the quick success of the CNG initiative for Nigeria. We believe that for the CNG initiative to succeed there must be a credible partnership between IPMAN and the PCNGI, without which Nigerians would not have ready and near access to CNG outlets.”
This partnership between Dangote and IPMAN is expected to increase efficiency, affordability, and economic growth for Nigeria’s petroleum industry. This move is expected to eliminate middlemen, reduce costs, and ensure steady supply.
Early this year, the Dangote Refinery said it would supply fuel to about 150,000 retail outlets operated by oil marketers.
In his remarks, the chairman, Board of Trustees of the association, Aminu Abdukadir, said that IPMAN must remain committed to providing the retail stations and funds to ensure that products are delivered to consumers.
“The business of making money without doing anything is over with the deregulation of the sector. For IPMAN to survive, it must provide the filling stations, the money, the trucks, to provide this commodity to motorists,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, has explained that the final landing price is determined by several key factors, including the exchange rate, logistics efficiency and cost negotiating power based on volume bought.
The ES in an interview with our correspondent on Monday, said this in response to the expectation of a reduction in petrol prices following a 20.34 per cent decrease in landing costs to N971.57 per litre.
He noted that oil marketers peg their price by the average cost of petrol import within 30 days and not on the daily spot price.
Isong said, “If you read our bulletin, there is not one landing price for the whole country. What we are saying is to give an idea of the landing pricIf if you land 38,000 metric tonnes into ASBM in Apapa, this is the landing price. That’s what we are saying. If you land 100,000 MT, or 80,000 MT into Pinnacle, the landing price will be lower. But there are only two places where the landing price will be lower due to economies of scale. If you land in the majority of the country, the depots and facilities take less. So, if you land it into another place in Lagos, the landing price will be higher. It won’t be N971 per litre. It can be as close to N1,000.
“So, the landing price is in function of how much you got your exchange rate, logistics and your negotiating power based on what volume bought. Some marketers are landing below N917. But the vast majority of people who don’t enjoy the benefits of economies of scale will land at significantly above that. What this teaches is that it is a free and open market. It’s how you buy that you sell. There is no one price. It is a function of the draft of the vessels that you land the product. It’s a function of how much product was bought. It’s a function of what rate of exchange was used to buy products. The exchange rate that we have used is the central bank rate. So, if you have the central bank rate, then you will not land at that price but if you to the black market, the price will be higher.
“The law says that we can only keep 30 days of stock in our depots. So, the fact that the spot market has gone up means nothing, because you are selling based on the price of the average cost in your tank. The fact that the price has gone down to N971, it doesn’t matter, because we are selling based on the average cost in your tank. How much did you buy and the average cost of everything in the tank? It’s a market price. And the market price is a range. It moves, depending on how efficient you are. And I think for us, the most important thing is the exchange rate.”
Business
Patience Jonathan Hails Azikel Boss Eruani as ‘Small Boy’ She Mentored Into Billionaire League
She said her guidance was behind his bold entry into big business at a relatively young age.
The former First Lady spoke on Tuesday in a video which went viral on Thursday during an inspection tour of the Azikel Refinery in Obunagha, Bayelsa State, alongside other dignitaries.
She said she personally introduced Eruani to billionaire businessmen, Aliko Dangote and Aminu Dantata, and pushed him to aspire to their level despite being the youngest among them.
“He’s a boy that I brought up. We are always together. Although he’s the little one among us when we are friends — Dangote, Seyi, Dantata, Eruani — among us, he’s the smallest. But I made sure he followed the Dangotes, he followed Dantata.
“Because I’m a woman in their midst, I made sure I told this small boy, ‘Go and follow them, and stop the grammar.’ But when he told me that one day he would be like Dangote, I said, ‘You’re thinking too high.’ I prayed to God to grant him his heart’s desire,” she said.
The former First Lady also recalled how the immediate past APC administration under Muhammadu Buhari initially failed to grant Eruani a refinery licence before eventually approving three.
“During the Buhari administration, he and others came to me and told me they were going to apply for a refinery. I told him, ‘Eruani, your brother, the President, did not give you a refinery.
“Is it the APC government that will give you one?’ I prayed it would happen. But later, they came back and told me they had been given three refineries,” she said.
The 25,000 barrels-per-day plant is a private hydro-skimming refinery designed to process condensate into petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene and other products.
It is set to become Nigeria’s second-largest full-slate refinery and the first major privately owned refinery in the Niger Delta.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Samuel Ogbuku, who joined the inspection tour, commended Eruani for his perseverance, noting that he had attended the project’s groundbreaking ceremony eight years ago.
Ogbuku described the refinery as an inspiration and a potential catalyst for investment, job creation and economic growth in Bayelsa State, and urged residents, particularly youths, to key into the opportunities it would create.
He also praised the Bayelsa State Government for improving road infrastructure leading to the refinery site and called for continued support for the project.
Governor Douye Diri, who was represented at the inspection by his deputy, Peter Akpe, has consistently backed the project, which is expected to employ hundreds of workers and drive industrialisation in the state.
Other dignitaries at the event included the Chairman of the Bayelsa State Council of Traditional Rulers, King Bubaraye Dakolo; Vice President of Azikel Group, Presley Asemota; and Isaac Yalah, among others.
A market check on Tuesday showed that NNPCL outlets in Abuja and nearby areas adjusted their petrol price from N1,155 per litre to N1,270 per litre.
The latest adjustment represents an increase of N115 per litre by the state-owned oil company.
The new price change follows recent increases by depot owners and petroleum marketers, who have adjusted their rates twice within a week.
The latest development also comes days after Dangote Refinery resumed the sale of refined petroleum products in dollars, a move that has raised concerns among industry players over the direction of fuel pricing in the country.
The Federal Government has disclosed that 13 of the 50 oil and gas blocks offered in the 2025 Licensing Round will be returned to the licensing basket after failing to attract bids from prospective investors.
The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this on Tuesday at the 2025 Commercial Bid Conference in Abuja.
Eyesan said that although 50 blocks were initially put up for bidding, prospective investors showed interest in only 37.
“At the end of the exercise, we had 50 blocks on offer, but we only had representation for 37 of those 50 blocks. Thirteen of those blocks will be returning back to the basket,” she said.
She further disclosed that 143 companies participated in the commercial bid process, submitting about 200 bids for the available oil and gas assets.
“We have a total of 143 companies showing interest for 200 bids. That, for us, was remarkable, and I must say thank you,” Eyesan stated.
According to her, nearly 300 companies initially expressed interest in the licensing round, which she described as a sign of renewed investor confidence in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.
“When we started the journey, we got interest from almost 300 companies. I repeat, almost 300 companies. That, in my view, was an indication that the tide has turned for Nigeria,” she said.
She explained that the number of interested companies was reduced to 196 following the prequalification stage, before the process moved to the technical and commercial evaluation phases.
“From the almost 300 interests that we got, we moved to the pre-qualification stage, and that number was pruned down to 196,” she added.
The 2025 Licensing Round was launched on November 11, 2025, in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, with 50 oil and gas blocks put up for bidding across seven sedimentary basins.
The assets comprise 16 Niger Delta onshore blocks, 18 shallow-water blocks, one deep offshore block, three blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin and four in the Benue Trough.
The bid portal opened on December 1, 2025, while a pre-bid conference was held in Lagos on January 14, 2026, to provide prospective investors with guidance on the bidding requirements.
Registration and prequalification submissions closed on February 27, 2026, with the prequalification process completed on March 16.
The NUPRC said winning bids are being determined through a weighted evaluation that considers signature bonus commitments, proposed work programmes and performance security. The process combines technical and commercial scores rather than relying solely on financial offers.
The framework is aimed at ensuring that Nigeria’s petroleum assets are awarded to investors with the financial capacity, technical expertise and operational strength required to accelerate exploration and production in the country’s upstream sector.
The new pricing template, which took effect on July 13, 2026, also pegs Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) at $1.087 per litre and Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) at $0.942 per litre, while coastal deliveries of PMS have been fixed at $1,044.62 per metric tonne.
The development marks the end of naira payments for refined petroleum products, a policy introduced after the commencement of the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude initiative on October 1, 2024.
In a notice issued to petroleum marketers and customers, the refinery announced that all previously issued naira-denominated Proforma Invoices and Deal Recaps for both gantry and coastal transactions had become invalid.
The notice, signed by the refinery’s Group Commercial Operations, directed customers not to make payments against the cancelled invoices, stating that all transactions would now be conducted in United States dollars.
Under the revised pricing schedule, petrol supplied through the gantry will sell for $0.779 per litre, diesel for $1.087 per litre, aviation fuel for $0.942 per litre, while coastal PMS supplies will cost $1,044.62 per metric tonne.
The refinery, however, clarified that the transition does not affect Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), which will continue under its existing payment arrangement.
Industry sources said the decision followed a growing imbalance between the currency used to procure crude oil and that used to sell refined products.
According to the sources, the refinery now receives a larger share of its crude oil from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) under dollar-denominated supply arrangements, while a significant volume of its refined products had continued to be sold locally in naira.
The resulting mismatch, coupled with exchange-rate volatility and fluctuations in global crude oil prices, reportedly increased the refinery’s foreign exchange exposure and prompted the adoption of a uniform dollar-based pricing framework.
A source familiar with the development explained that the shift became necessary as the volume of naira-denominated crude supplies declined relative to dollar-based crude cargoes.
“The refinery is receiving fewer naira-denominated crude cargoes while a larger proportion of its refined products has continued to be sold in naira. That imbalance, combined with foreign exchange volatility, made the transition to dollar pricing inevitable,” the source said.
The decision is expected to have significant implications for petroleum marketers who source products directly from the refinery for nationwide distribution. It could also influence retail pump prices, depending on movements in the exchange rate, international crude oil prices, logistics costs and marketers’ operating expenses.
The Federal Government had introduced the naira-for-crude policy to encourage domestic refining, reduce pressure on foreign exchange demand and stabilise fuel prices. However, industry stakeholders have recently reported implementation challenges, noting that a growing proportion of crude supplies to local refiners has reverted to dollar-based transactions.
Analysts believe the latest development underscores the continued foreign exchange challenges facing Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector despite efforts to deepen local refining and reduce dependence on imported fuel.
Independent petroleum marketers on Monday pushed for the restoration of importation rights and projected that the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, could fall below N800 per litre as the Federal Government intensified efforts to force down the cost of petrol.
The development came as the Federal Government met with major operators in the downstream petroleum sector, including representatives of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, over what it described as the disconnect between falling global crude oil prices and the relatively high pump prices of petrol in the domestic market.
The stakeholders’ meeting on cost-reflective pricing of PMS, held at the headquarters of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in Abuja, brought together the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, the Depot and Petroleum Products Retailers Association of Nigeria, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, and other major operators in the sector.
Also in attendance were chief executives and representatives of TotalEnergies, Eterna Plc, Matrix Energy Group, officials of the NMDPRA, and delegates from the Dangote refinery.
Petrol prices have remained a major source of hardship for households and businesses in Nigeria, with pump prices surging following the spike in global crude oil prices triggered by tensions in the Middle East, particularly between Iran and the United States.
Although crude prices have moderated after diplomatic efforts eased the tensions, the reduction has yet to be fully reflected in domestic petrol prices, prompting the Federal Government to convene a stakeholders’ meeting aimed at driving a fair reduction in pump prices.
The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, urged the government to permit independent marketers to import petroleum products directly, saying greater competition would ultimately reduce prices.
Maigandi also called for support for local refineries, particularly the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, while stressing the need to allow marketers to import products whenever necessary.
“Our major concern is that if products are to be distributed, let IPMAN buy products directly from the Dangote refinery and then, if we request importation, let IPMAN import by themselves. What we are trying to encourage is our local refinery. Let the government allow the local refinery to function properly and assist those who intend to refine products too,” he said.
The IPMAN president assured Nigerians that independent marketers were prepared to slash petrol prices significantly and projected that pump prices could fall below N800 per litre under the right market conditions.
“The price of the product is coming down bit by bit. Even when the price was increased, it was not increased at the same time. Likewise, now, as the price is coming down, we too are bringing the price down. If you check prices all over the country, you will see that independent petroleum marketers are reducing their prices gradually. Presently, we have reduced by N125 per litre nationwide,” he stated.
Miagandi added, “At any time when there is a reduction in price, we are ready to reduce the price to even below N800 per litre, not even N900. It depends on the way we buy the product from the private depot owners and the Dangote refinery.
“I thank God that the Dangote refinery has accepted independent petroleum marketers to start purchasing products directly. It is a plus, and very soon the populace will see the change in terms of price.”
The renewed push for importation comes amid an intense pricing battle in the downstream sector following the commencement of large-scale production at the Dangote refinery and the deregulation of the petrol market.
Speaking to journalists after a closed-door session with the stakeholders, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the government remained concerned that current petrol prices were not reflective of prevailing crude oil prices in the international market.
According to him, the government had engaged marketers in frank discussions aimed at ensuring that the reduction in global crude prices translates into lower pump prices for Nigerians.
Lokpobiri said, “The engagements are ongoing. We had very fruitful and frank discussions with the marketers and the leaders of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry with a view to driving down the price of PMS.
“My own opinion is that the petrol prices are not cost-reflective; they are not reflective of the cost of crude oil. But the marketers are also saying that crude oil prices are still high.
“In fact, somebody told us right there that the crude oil price for a month is still over $90 per barrel. But we are saying that when Brent crude was over $118 per barrel, the price was rapidly going up. Now that the price has come down drastically, why has petrol not come down correspondingly? That is a worry.”
The minister said the government had communicated the concerns of consumers to operators and directed them to return with practical measures that would lead to lower petrol prices.
“We have said that these are the issues of concern to the government. They have also said they will go back and think about what they can put together with a view to addressing the issue of the high cost of PMS that is not reflective of the price of crude in the market.
“We told them the concern of the Nigerian consumer, and they have also said they will go back and think of what concrete steps can be taken with a view to ensuring that the price drops,” he stated.
On when Nigerians should expect a reduction in petrol prices, Lokpobiri said discussions were still ongoing and declined to give a deadline. “As we called you today, we will call you as soon as possible. But the important thing is that discussions are ongoing,” he added.
Before the closed-door meeting, Lokpobiri warned petroleum marketers against using profits from previously acquired expensive fuel inventories as justification for maintaining high petrol prices, insisting that the benefits of lower replacement costs must be passed on to consumers.
The government said the continued disconnect between falling international crude oil prices and domestic petrol prices had become a source of concern, warning petroleum marketers against sustaining high pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit despite declining global crude prices and insisting that Nigerians should enjoy the benefits of lower replacement costs in a deregulated market.
-
Crime4 days agoBREAKING! Jezco CEO Kidnap: Ransome rises to N1.5bn After Family Agrees to N700m
-
Sports5 days agoKatsina United Defender Ozor Reportedly Shows Signs of Life at Mortuary
-
Crime5 days agoPolice Intercept N6.2m Worth of Hard Drugs, Arrest Two Suspected Dealers in Anambra
-
Education4 days agoStudents Ejected From NAU Examination Hall Over Failure to Buy Lecturers’ Textbooks
-
News4 days ago15 Dead, 200 Buildings at Risk as Sand Mining Ravages Anambra Community
-
Foreign3 days agoFamily Seeks Help to Locate Enugu Man in Dallas After Viral Social Media Post
-
News5 days agoAir Peace operations disrupted as aviation unions ground 70 flights
-
Crime4 days agoGunmen attack four communities, kill two, burn houses