Dangote increases petrol price as oil hits $82/barrel in global market
Following the increase in the price of crude oil, including Nigeria’s Bonny Light, which rose by 5.1 per cent to $82 per barrel from $78 per barrel in the global market, Dangote Petroleum Refinery on Friday announced an upward review of its Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) prices.
The refinery announced the new pricing structure in a statement released, setting the new bulk purchase rate at N955 per litre for customers purchasing between 2 million and 4.99 million litres.
According to the statement, bulk buyers acquiring 5 million litres or more will now pay N950 per litre, reflecting a 6.17% increase, or N55.5 per litre, compared to the discounted rate of N899.50 per litre offered during December 2024’s holiday period.
In a notice titled “Communication on PMS Price Review”, the refinery informed its customers of the price revision, attributing the change to rising global oil prices.
According to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, the development was driven by market instability and uncertainties and is expected to continue in 2025.
However, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, on Thursday, while speaking in Abuja at the inaugural meeting of the Petroleum Industry Stakeholders Forum, PISF, insisted that fluctuations in the pump price of petrol would be determined by the price of crude oil in the international market.
He also noted that the downstream sector is now fully deregulated, with the government no longer involved in setting prices.
The government’s position followed the recent hike in the price of petrol from N909 per litre to N970 per litre by depot owners, fueling fears of a possible rise in pump price at filling stations to over N1,000 per litre.
Yuletide: Dangote announces petrol sale on credit, splashes price to N899.50
He said: “The whole essence of deregulation is for price to find its level. Before now you will agree with me that every day you were hearing negative news about petrol subsidies. Today, you journalists have no negative news about petrol subsidies because it is completely regulated, and price will find its level.
“As oil price goes up, petrol price will go up, and as oil price comes down, price will come up. During the Christmas season, I was in Bayelsa, and I tried to go around different filling stations. Some filling stations were selling N1,020; others were selling N999, while others were selling N1,015.
“What we are concerned about, and I’ve always had that discussion with you, with the Authority Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, is that the government is more interested in quality control. Government is more interested in availability, and what the government is particularly interested in is the dispensation of the right quantity.
“If you are buying 10 litres of PMS, let it be that you are not short-changed by the retail filling station. That is where we have issues. And once there is competition, people have a choice, and that’s why you don’t see any queues”.
The Minister explained that the PISF, modelled after the Bankers Committee meetings, will allow leaders in the oil and gas industry to address industry issues amicably.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria, MEMAN, Mr Huub Stockman, explained that although petrol pump price is affected by crude oil prices, this may not be immediate.
Mr Stockman said: “This is because crude and product prices don’t always directly relate. And it’s not always that when the crude price changes, immediately all other products that are derivatives from it change. But I think normally there is a correlation, but I think it’s too early to say when or what impact it would have.”
Source: Vanguard newspaper
