₦airaland Forum

Private petroleum depots across Lagos and other key fuel trading hubs have raised the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) to as high as N800 per litre, Sunday PUNCH has observed.

Data obtained from petroleumprice.ng on Friday showed that the average cost of petrol at private depots increased sharply within 48 hours, tightening margins for marketers and raising fresh concerns over an imminent spike in retail pump prices nationwide.

In Lagos, Dangote depot, which consistently offers the lowest petrol price, sold PMS at N703 per litre on Friday, up from N702.50 on Wednesday, December 31, 2025. While the increase at Dangote was marginal, other private depots recorded steeper adjustments.

Eterna and Integrated depots raised petrol prices to N800 per litre on Friday, compared with N726 per litre at Shellplux and AIPEC earlier in the week, indicating a jump of N74 per litre within two days.

Similarly, Aiteo and Lister depots sold petrol at N780 per litre, up from the N750–N760 band recorded on Wednesday. The impact was even more pronounced in Warri, one of Nigeria’s key petroleum logistics hubs.

While Matrix Energy and other major depots sold petrol at N800 per litre on Wednesday, prices climbed to as high as N805 per litre by Friday, according to the report.

The Warri market reacted faster due to tighter supply lines and higher transportation costs, especially as marketers reposition volumes ahead of anticipated scarcity.

Recall that last December, Dangote Petroleum Refinery reduced its petrol gantry price, slashing the ex-depot rate from N828 to N699 per litre. The new price took effect on December 11, 2025, marking the 20th petrol price adjustment announced by the refinery this year.

Market operators linked the price surge to the shutdown of the petrol unit at the Dangote Refinery, which had recently become a major domestic supplier of PMS, helping to moderate prices following the removal of fuel subsidies.

Commenting, the Chief Executive Officer of petroleumprice.ng, Jeremiah Olatide, said the latest increase was a calculated response by importers seeking to recover losses recorded in December.

He explained that importers were hit hard by the aggressive price slash by the Dangote Refinery, which sold petrol at about N699 per litre, forcing many private players to sell below their landing costs.

“This price uptick is a deliberate move by importers to recoup losses from the massive price slash by the Dangote Refinery in December,” Olatide said.

He added that marketers are already factoring in potential supply tightness in January due to the ongoing upgrade at the Dangote Refinery, a development they believe could limit domestic supply temporarily.

“Importers are postulating that there may be supply constraints in January because of the refinery’s plant upgrade, and they see this as an opportunity to make up for December losses,” he noted.

According to him, some depot operators are deliberately holding back volumes in storage, waiting to sell at prices above their landing costs once any supply disruption emerges.

“They are keeping products in the tank, hoping to sell above their landing cost as soon as there is a supply glitch,” Olatide said.

However, he cautioned that the strategy may not hold for long, noting that the Dangote Refinery could respond aggressively once supply normalises. “We will see how the new pricing plays out, but there will likely be a fightback from the refinery,” he added.

With Dangote’s supply temporarily curtailed, private depot owners have begun repricing available stock, citing replacement costs, foreign exchange volatility, and uncertainty around import schedules.

The petroleumprice.ng report also noted that Brent crude closed at $60.20 per barrel on Friday, while the naira continued to weaken at the parallel market, trading at N1,495/$, compared with N1,475/$ on Wednesday, further adding pressure to fuel pricing.

Depot price movements typically precede changes at filling stations, and industry watchers warn that the current trend could push retail petrol prices beyond N700 per litre in several cities if sustained.

Petrol marketers said margins have been compressed by logistics costs, financing challenges and volatile exchange rates, making depot price increases difficult to absorb without adjusting pump prices.

Since the full deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector, petrol prices in Nigeria have been determined by market forces, including crude prices, exchange rates, logistics, and supply availability.

The Dangote Refinery, with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, had raised expectations of price stability through local refining. However, its temporary petrol unit shutdown has exposed the fragility of supply dynamics, especially as imports remain costly.

Antoeni:
Of a Truth Subsidy Was Never Removed, It Was Given Another in The Budget, By This Present APC Government,

ki02020:
Abegiii

Stop this misinformation jare
Subsidy was not removed abi
How come the allocations to your states government increased with such margins

Antoeni:
Ask Your Yourself,How Come Borrowing Has Tripped?

ki02020:
Abegiii

Stop this misinformation jare
Subsidy was not removed abi
How come the allocations to your states government increased with such margins

budaatum:
Are you asking that we create some fake conspiracy to support your unsubstantiated claim, or will you provide evidence to substantiate your own claim?

DMCA:
hope say no be mud dey ur brain?

DMCA:
Wailers go come here come blame tinubu as if him be private depot

Brendaniel:
Naira devaluation, I have done the caluculation here different times, the allocation Buhari gave to states is still higher in value than what Tinubu is giving them now same with Jonathan

ki02020:
Abegiii

Stop this misinformation jare
Subsidy was not removed abi
How come the allocations to your states government increased with such margins

TimeManager:
The Federal Government has revealed that the elimination of the petrol subsidy under President Bola Tinubu has resulted in savings of over $84 billion, which are now being channelled into the construction and rehabilitation of 40 key road projects across the country over the past two years.

This was disclosed in a policy brief released by the National Orientation Agency (NOA), titled “Two Years Later: Key Benefits of Subsidy Removal,” and made available to journalists over the weekend in Abuja.

The report, which reviewed the outcomes of the subsidy removal since May 29, 2023, noted that the policy averted a looming economic crisis.

It also enabled the Tinubu administration to clear long-standing financial liabilities, increase capital investments, and support the financial stability of state governments.

https://businessday.ng/news/article/84bn-saved-from-petrol-subsidy-now-financing-40-key-roads-report/?amp

lawani:
Yes devaluation is a factor but without devaluation the allocations still increased.

In Osun state the LG allocation was seized and there was no issue at all despite that salaries more than doubled. If you did your calculations very well you will find out allocations substantially increased. The governors have more money now for development. However the money is still not enough

DMCA:
Wailers go come here come blame tinubu as if him be private depot

Deltafirstson:
Although the pump price of fuel was N197 when President Bola Tinubu took over on May 29, 2023, the product now sells for N617 per litre – less than two months after.

In his inaugural address, Tinubu announced that subsidy was gone, fulfilling a promise that all leading presidential candidates made during the campaign.

Nigerians have been lamenting the hardship occasioned by fuel price hike. Amid the lamentation, a video where Tinubu campaigned to slash the price of fuel went into circulation.

Checks by Daily Trust affirmed the authenticity of the video uploaded on the YouTube page of Channels Television.

At his campaign rally in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, on January 25, 2023, Tinubu spoke on a number of issues, but those of fuel scarcity and naira redesign made the headlines.

However, Tinubu who spoke in Yoruba language, also assured the crowd that though people were saying petrol price would hit N200, it would be reviewed downward under him.

“The great Nigerian youths, the great Nigerian students, the confident Nigerian youths. This is a revolution. This election is a revolution. They are plotting, but they will fail. They said fuel price will increase and reach N200 per litre. Go and relax, we will bring it down,” he had said in the 7th minute of the video.


https://dailytrust.com/breaking-video-of-tinubu-campaigning-to-crash-fuel-



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JH8CC_JdUA

Buhari’ll reduce petrol to N40/L —David-West

FORMER Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Prof. Tamunoemi David-West, said that Nigerians should expect sharp drop in petrol price from the current N87 to about N40 per litre, saying, “the president-elect, Gen. Mohammed Buhari, will reduce the fuel pump price to N40 per litre.”

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/04/buharill-reduce-petrol-to-n40l-david-west/

lawani:
Yes devaluation is a factor but without devaluation the allocations still increased. In Osun state the LG allocation was seized and there was no issue at all despite that salaries more than doubled. If you did your calculations very well you will find out allocations substantially increased. The governors have more money now for development. However the money is still not enough

ki02020:
To all those saying rubbish about Dangote

Una see sey if Dangote blink for 5 seconds every go blur with increase in pump price

Princecalm:
Jul 29, 2015

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has announced that the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries have been successfully re-streamed after a nine-month rehabilitation exercise conducted by its in-house engineers and technicians.

The corporation, in a statement, noted that both plants commenced preliminary production of petroleum products after successful test-runs, adding that while PHRC was ramping up its operation to about 60 per cent of its 210,000 barrels per day capacity, WRPC production was projected to hit 80 per cent of its installed 125,000bpd capacity.

The NNPC said the Port Harcourt refinery was projected to boost the nation’s local refining capacity with a product yield of five million litres of petrol per day, while Warri refinery would contribute 3.5 million litres of petrol.

Providing insight into the rehabilitation exercise, the NNPC noted that it had to adopt the phased rehabilitation strategy after the Original Refinery Builders, who were initially contacted for the project came up with unfavorable terms.

It said, “Though a decision was taken in 2011 to rehabilitate all the refineries using the ORB of each of the refineries, we were impelled to switch strategy after the ORBs declined participation and nominated some partners in their stead who came up with outrageously unfavorable terms.”

The NNPC stated that the nominated partners, as sole-bidders, came up with humongous price offers after two years of thorough and exhaustive scope of work definition and price negotiations.

It added that the proxies were also unwilling to provide post rehabilitation performance guarantees.

The corporation said, “The phased rehabilitation strategy which entailed phased and simultaneous rehabilitation of all the refineries using in-house and locally available resources in line with the spirit and letter of the Nigerian Content Law, also involved the use of Original Equipment Manufacturer representatives to effect major equipment overhaul and rehabilitation.”

The national oil firm said the phased rehabilitation programme, which started in October 2014 after the required funding stream was established, created a 70 per cent reduction in costs which helped largely in mitigating the financing challenges of refinery rehabilitation.

It observed that with the successful re-streaming of the PHRC and WRPC, attention has now moved to the 110,000 barrels per day Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company which was billed to come on stream soon.

http://www.punchng.com/news/pharcourt-warri-refineries-commence-preliminary-operations-nnpc/

ki02020:
Abegiii

Stop this misinformation jare
Subsidy was not removed abi
How come the allocations to your states government increased with such margins

Brendaniel:
Naira devaluation, I have done the caluculation here different times, the allocation Buhari gave to states is still higher in value than what Tinubu is giving them now same with Jonathan

budaatum:
Are you asking that we create some fake conspiracy to support your unsubstantiated claim, or will you provide evidence to substantiate your own claim?

Lanretoye:
you are right,the states are still struggling to pay salaries ,the states were paying the same minimum wage they were paying under Jonathan,the states were able to fund security outfits like amotekun and the likes too,continue with your scientific calculator.
The state has not still been able to credit you monthly for doing nothing so nothing has changed

Brendaniel:
I have done the calculation even up to 1999 under OBJ, the value did not increase under Tinubu, it even dropped....

When doing the calculation , use the value of dollar...

lawani:
I don't think you are correct. Osun budget in 2023 was 138 billion. In 2026 it is about 740 or so billion and Osun is not doing any significant igr. Naira has only devalued from 500 to 1500 and the budget should have increased by only 300 percent

Brendaniel:
That's because you did not also factor in inflation, let me just give you a simply example, my friend in 2013 bought a brand new 2013 Toyota Camry for 7.2m today in 2025, 70 million cannot buy you the same brand new of the same Toyota Camry...

lawani:
Don't use 2012. Use Buhari time and today

Brendaniel:
No, because private depot operate without government regulation and intervention, they are sovereign entities abi?