THE Dangote Petroleum Refinery said it has reduced its ex-depot (gantry) price of petrol to N825 per litre.

The ex-depot price is at which the marketers buy the product at the refinery depots before putting their mark-up price for sales at filling station retail outlets.

The management announced this in a statement on Wednesday, February 26.

It said the price drop takes effect from Thursday, February 27.

The reduction came barely one month after the company slashed its ex-depot petrol price to N890.

Precisely on February 2, the Dangote refinery dropped its ex-depot price of petrol from N950 to N890, citing the decline in the price of crude oil at the international market, The ICIR reported.

“This strategic price adjustment is designed to provide essential relief to Nigerians in anticipation of the upcoming Ramadan season, while also supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic recovery policy by alleviating the financial burden on the Nigerian populace.

“It is important to note that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has consistently lowered the prices of petrol and other refined petroleum products to the benefit of Nigerians. This marks the second price reduction of PMS in February 2025, following a previous decrease of N60.00 earlier in the month,” the management said.

The Dangote refinery had extended a similar gesture during the last Christmas season when it reduced the gantry price of its petrol by N70.50, from N970 to N899.50 per litre.

It was part of its commitment to easing the cost of living and providing relief to Nigerians during the yuletide season, it stated.

“This reduction has positively impacted the overall cost of living, benefiting various sectors of the economy, and has also ensured that Nigerians did not experience the perennial fuel scarcity and price hikes typically associated with the yuletide season.

“Nigerians will be able to purchase the high-quality Dangote petrol at the following prices in all our partners’ retail outlets,” Dangote refinery said.

With the new adjustment in its ex-depot price of petrol, the refinery said the MRS Holdings filling stations would now sell for N860 per litre in Lagos, N870 in the South-West, N880 per litre in the North, and N890 per litre in the South-South and South-East respectively.

“The same product will also be available at the following prices in AP (Ardova Petroleum) and Heyden stations: N865 per litre in Lagos, N875 per litre in the South-West, N885 per litre in the North, and N895 per litre in the South-South and South-East,” it added.

The refinery said it is assuring the public of a consistent supply of petroleum products, with sufficient reserves to meet domestic demand, as well as a surplus for export to enhance the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

It called on oil marketers to support its initiative, ensuring that Nigerians remain the primary beneficiaries of the effort.

“This collective action will contribute to the broader economic recovery plan led by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is committed to making Nigeria self-sufficient in refined petroleum products and establishing the country as a leading oil export hub,” the management of Dangote added.

With the consistent drop in the price and export of its refined petroleum products, the Dangote Petrochemical refinery company is gradually showing its market dominance in the Nigerian petroleum industries while the state-owned oil firm, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), is behind.

Lately, the Dangote refinery sold two cargoes of aviation fuel to Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia.

In its monthly report for January 2025, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) noted that the emergence of Dangote refinery has reduced the importation of petroleum products from Europe to Nigeria.

“The ongoing operational ramp-up efforts at Nigeria’s new Dangote refinery and its gasoline (petrol) exports to the international market will likely weigh further on the European gasoline market.

“Continued gasoline production in Nigeria, a country that has relied heavily on imports to meet its domestic fuel needs in the past, will most likely continue to free up gasoline volumes in international markets which will call for new destinations and flow adjustments for the extra volumes going forward,” OPEC stated.

The 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery built by billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote is eying eyes full capacity operations by next month, but it is currently operating at 85 per cent capacity.

When it finally starts operating at full capacity, the refinery is expected to enhance its supply links to both local and international supply chains while also influencing market pricing and control mechanisms across the country.

In recent times, there have been pockets of petrol queues in retail outlets loading petrol products from the Dangote refiner,y, which is not unconnected to the price mechanism and availability of the product as most NNPCL filling stations are most times not open to motorists to buy products.

The ICIR observed earlier this week that motorists in some parts of Lagos experienced petrol queues as the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) embarked on strike action.

The strike began on Sunday after tanker drivers accused police officers of extortion and harassment, citing frequent cases of intimidation and illegal levies imposed on them while transporting petrol.

According to NUPENG, despite repeated appeals to law enforcement agencies and the federal government, the situation has persisted, forcing them to halt operations.

In a related development, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN), Southwest zone, had on Monday, February 24 threatened to shut down its operations across the Southwest over the arrest of 30 tankers by the Lagos state government.

The 30 tankers bearing 45,000 litres of petrol product were reportedly towed out of the Dangote Refinery by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASMA).

These incidents have led to queues being witnessed in some suburbs in Lagos state amid fewer operations of NNPCL retail outlets.