Dangote: NNPCL, MRS outlets shut as Nigerian filling stations increase fuel price again

Retail outlets of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and MRS were closed on Monday as several other filling stations raised their petrol pump prices for the second time in less than a week.

DAILY POST reports that NNPCL and MRS outlets in major parts of Abuja were out of petrol supply as of Monday night.

The development comes as DAILY POST gathered that Ranoil, Empire and other petroleum products marketers within the nation’s capital further increased their pump prices by between N55 and N60 to between N1,275 and N1,280 per litre at the close of business on Monday.

This means that, in less than a week, major filling station outlets have adjusted their petrol pump prices by at least N100 per litre.

DAILY POST reports that depot owners have also raised their ex-depot prices to between N1,249 and N1,270 per litre as of Monday night.

The surge in fuel prices comes barely a week after Dangote Refinery resumed the sale of refined petroleum products in dollars. 

The 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery pegged its petrol gantry price at $0.779 per litre, diesel at $1.087 per litre, and aviation fuel at $0.942 per litre. 

While the refinery insisted that the gantry prices remained unchanged, some petroleum marketers claimed that the plant had suspended product loading.

Two managers at MRS filling stations in Abuja told DAILY POST, on condition of anonymity, that they had been out of petrol since Thursday last week.

Fuel attendants at NNPCL retail outlets also confirmed that their stations ran out of supply on Monday afternoon. 

The development has further worsened the uncertainty in the country’s downstream oil sector over the past week.

Earlier, petroleum products marketers had lamented the high cost of imported fuel, driven by rising shipping costs and increasing crude oil prices. 

As of Monday night, West Texas Intermediate, WTI crude traded above $82 per barrel, while Brent crude rose above $87 per barrel.

PETROAN, IPMAN react

Speaking on the development, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, and the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, blamed the fuel price volatility on uncertainty surrounding global crude oil prices and Dangote Refinery’s resumption of refined products sales in dollars.

Gillis-Harry noted that this was not the time for the Federal Government to sit on the fence over petrol pricing.

According to him, the Federal Government needs to intervene urgently to protect Nigerians from the adverse impact of the latest fuel price hike.

“The Federal Government’s intervention is key. The Federal Government should step in over Dangote Refinery’s resumption of refined products sales in dollars. 

“Most of our members are unable to load products in dollars. We don’t want the downstream sector to be dollarised,” he told DAILY POST.

Ukadike said the Federal Government should immediately resume talks with Dangote Refinery on the sale of refined products in naira by reactivating the Naira-for-Crude deal.

“We support the reactivation of the Naira-for-Crude deal with Dangote Refinery. We want to sell cheaper petroleum products to Nigerians. 

“Some of our members’ stations are closed because we could not obtain products in naira. The Federal Government should resume talks with Dangote Refinery before the situation gets out of hand,” he told DAILY POST.

Why Dangote Refinery resumes refined products sales in dollars 

DAILY POST reports that while Dangote Refinery has not officially explained its decision to suspend the sale of refined petroleum products in naira, industry sources have linked the development to issues surrounding the implementation of the Naira-for-Crude deal. 

Officials of Dangote Refinery, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the plant receives four million barrels of crude allocation monthly from NNPCL instead of the 13 million barrels stipulated under the Naira-for-Crude arrangement.

NNPCL reacts

However, NNPCL spokesperson, Andy Odey said on Monday that the state-owned oil company had “allocated 100 per cent of all available naira crude cargoes to DPRP in 2026 — there has been no withholding on our part.”

Presidency mum

DAILY POST reports that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration has remained silent on the development as Nigerians continue to feel the impact of the latest petrol price hike.

Recall that President Tinubu, who also serves as the substantive Minister of Petroleum Resources, initiated the Naira-for-Crude deal with Dangote Refinery in 2024 to shield Nigerians from the impact of global energy price volatility.

The last meeting the Nigerian government held with stakeholders in the country’s downstream oil sector was in the first week of July, and it centred on cost-reflective petrol pricing.