DANGOTE Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals has increased its petrol gantry price to N799 per litre, while MRS retail outlets will now sell at N839, up from N739 per litre.
The company, in a statement, reaffirmed its commitment to market stability and uninterrupted nationwide supply of the product.
The refinery clarified that the Christmas price slash was a deliberate and temporary price support intervention to cushion Nigerians household spending.
According to the $20 billion refinery plant, its gantry price of petrol is now sold at N799 per litre, while the retail price is N839 per litre, up from N699 and N739 per litre sold since December last year.
The Chief Executive Officer of the refinery, David Bird, stated that the refinery continued to supply the domestic market with approximately 50 million litres of petrol daily, with nationwide evacuation and distribution operating normally.
He stressed that the refinery’s design flexibility allowed it to process a wide range of crude and intermediate feedstocks, enabling continued fuel supply during planned maintenance activities.
According to him, this capability ensures that the domestic supply remains stable and uninterrupted.
Dangote Refinery had recently resorted to gasoline imports to boost its capacity amid its Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (A type of secondary conversion process that makes heavy oil lighter) downtime.
As of Monday night, retail filling stations, including Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, dispense petrol between N805 and N830 per litre.
However, Dangote’s price hike may trigger a petrol price increase across the country’s downstream sector.
The president of the refinery, Aliko Dangote, had in December last year said that its N739 per litre retail fuel price would persist nationwide to edge out importers.
Petroleum Retail Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) had kicked against Dangote’s market influence on petroleum pricing, noting that it was disrupting importers who had imported at a higher cost to close demand gaps in the petroleum downstream market.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.