- NNPC is no longer the petrol pricing leader in Nigeria, a position it has held for many years in the downstream market
- Dangote’s entry has weakened NNPC’s pricing dominance in Nigeria’s downstream fuel market
- More filling stations have a partnership with Dangote refinery and have been key to the reduction in petrol prices
MRS Oil Nigeria has emerged as one of the cheapest place to buy petrol in Nigeria, displacing the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC).
For years, NNPC set the benchmark for fuel prices across Nigeria, acting as the reference point for the downstream.
Photo: MRS
Source: Original
That dominance, however, has been challenged by the entry of the Dangote Refinery and its strategic partnership with MRS Oil.
MRS is controlled by Dangote’s half-brother Sayyu Dantata and has leverage partnership with the Dangote Refinery to provide cheaper fuel prices to Nigeria.
As of Sunday, January 11, petrol at MRS filling stations sells at N739 per litre nationwide, compared to the NNPC retail price of N785 in Lagos and N815 in Abuja.
In some other states, NNPC petrol price sells for as high as N950 per litre.
Dangote Refinery’s influence in the downstream market
While MRS outlets have already been selling Dangote-refined petrol at the agreed pump price of N739 per litre, other partners have been unable to match the rate but are still selling lower than NNPC’s rate.
For example, Legit.ng observed that Ardova filling stations are selling petrol at N740 per litre, First Royal sells at N750.
Here are some filling stations to buy petrol lower rate than NNPC’s rate
- Heyden
- Optima energy
- Technoil
- Hyde
Photo: Bloomberg
Source: Getty Images
IPMAN expects lower petrol price
Meanwhile, Independent marketers aligned with the refinery say Dangote plans to begin direct petrol supply, which could push pump prices below the current N739 per litre benchmark in some locations, especially where competition is intense, and logistics costs are significantly reduced.
The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) explained that the potential for lower prices lies in the gap between the refinery’s gantry price and the current retail price.
According to him, Dangote Refinery’s gantry price currently hovers around N699 per litre, leaving marketers with enough margin to compete aggressively once logistics costs are reduced or eliminated.
He noted that marketers benefiting from free delivery could pass part of the savings to consumers, making sub-N739 per litre pricing realistic at select outlets, particularly in urban centres with dense station clusters.
Dangote Refinery delivers 43m litres of fuel in one day
We earlier reported that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has denied claims that it shut down its petrol production unit, saying it supplied over 43 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit to the Nigerian market in a single day.
According to officials, about 43.3 million litres of petrol were loaded on Saturday, January 3, a volume they said could cover more than half of Nigeria’s estimated daily fuel demand. The refinery said this output contradicts reports suggesting its operations were halted for maintenance.
The clarification came after speculation over the weekend that the refinery had suspended production, a report that unsettled the downstream market and led to a spike in ex-depot petrol prices at major fuel trading centres.