₦airaland Forum

The price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) at retail pump stations may soon rise to between N980 and over N1,000 per litre, depending on location nationwide, following a fresh increase in the gantry price by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, The PUNCH has learnt.

The development comes as the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, unveiled plans to invest in electricity generation, alongside expansions into steel production and port infrastructure, as part of a broader ambition to industrialise Africa and strengthen domestic energy security.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, confirmed the likely retail price in a telephone interview on Monday.

“Following the increase by Dangote, the pump price will likely range between N980 and over N1,000 per litre, depending on location and logistics. This is largely the effect of the recent hike in global crude oil prices,” Ukadike said.

A senior official at the refinery first confirmed the price adjustment, noting that it was driven by volatility in the international crude oil market. “Yes, the price has been reviewed. The new gantry price is now N874 per litre from N774. The review became necessary due to changes in global crude fundamentals and replacement costs,” the official said.

Checks by petroleumprice.ng also showed that the revised rate had been reflected across the downstream value chain, indicating a shift in pricing benchmarks. In a notice to marketers, the refinery stated:

“Dear Valued Customer, we are pleased to inform you that PMS is currently available for purchase. Please be informed that the current price is N874 per litre. Thank you for choosing Dangote.”

The increase followed a temporary suspension of petrol loading operations at the refinery effective midnight on March 2, 2026, after global crude oil prices surged above $80 per barrel. While petrol loading paused, Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) continued to be supplied.

Several depot owners also suspended petrol sales to reassess replacement costs. “Several depot owners halted PMS sales because of the crude rally. The market is already factoring in risk premiums. Nobody wants to sell below replacement cost,” a downstream operator said.

The development comes amid heightened global oil market volatility linked to escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, raising fears of possible supply disruptions around the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Five energy experts warned that Nigeria could see further increases in petrol and diesel prices if crude oil surpasses $90 per barrel.

According to analysts, sustained hostilities in the Middle East could disrupt supply chains, raise shipping and insurance costs, and ultimately push up the cost of refined petroleum products despite Nigeria’s growing domestic refining capacity.

JPMorgan Chase has projected that Brent crude could climb to $120 per barrel if a prolonged Middle East conflict continues to disrupt oil flows through the strait. The bank noted that Gulf producers could maintain normal output for only about 25 days before storage facilities reach capacity, forcing a broader production shutdown.

Oil prices surged sharply on Monday following a significant escalation involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. Brent crude for April delivery rose 8.7 percent to $79.28 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate gained 7.8 percent to trade at $72.16. The rise followed a coordinated U.S.-Israeli operation targeting Iranian missile facilities and command centers, reportedly resulting in the deaths of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and nearly 50 senior Iranian officials.

Iran responded with missile and drone strikes targeting Israel and U.S. military installations across the Persian Gulf, including locations in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. Reports indicate at least 11 fatalities in Israel and three U.S. service members killed, with five others wounded.

Although the Strait of Hormuz has not been formally closed, shipping activity has declined by approximately 70 percent amid escalating security risks. Safety concerns, rising insurance costs, and operational suspensions by major shipping lines have effectively curtailed crude transit through the corridor. An estimated 200 tankers carrying crude oil and liquefied natural gas have either anchored nearby or rerouted, while major shipping companies like Hapag-Lloyd and CMA CGM have temporarily halted transits.

War risk insurance premiums have risen by up to 50 percent, significantly increasing passage costs. The strait remains a vital energy chokepoint, facilitating the daily movement of 20–21 million barrels of crude, condensate, and petroleum products—roughly 20 percent of global daily oil consumption and nearly 30 percent of total seaborne crude trade.

While Dangote Petroleum Refinery navigates these challenges, Dangote’s broader industrial vision aims to address energy deficits and stimulate growth. He said refining is only one phase of a larger strategy that includes steel, electricity, and port development.

“We have to industrialise Africa,” Dangote said in a recent interview with The New York Times, noting the importance of expanding electricity access alongside industrial and manufacturing growth.

The Dangote Group currently operates over 1.5 megawatts of electricity, while Nigeria’s national generation struggles below 5,000 MW. Dangote emphasised that a reliable power supply is essential for economic growth.

According to a statement from the group, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals is now operational, producing about 650,000 barrels of refined products daily. Output is expected to double within three years as expansion plans progress.

“The refinery alone currently employs about 30,000 workers, approximately 80 percent of them Nigerians. Expansion across new sectors is expected to raise total employment within the group to about 65,000,” the statement added.

Dangote also announced plans to list shares in the refinery on the Nigerian stock market to broaden local participation. Despite progress, he acknowledged challenges, including logistics bottlenecks and inefficiencies in crude supply to the refinery.

“Nobody dared to do it, so we did it,” Dangote said, stressing that large-scale private investment is key to transforming Nigeria’s industrial landscape. His vision aims to reduce import dependence, retain economic value within Africa, and address the country’s urgent need for jobs, as Nigeria will require 40–50 million new positions by 2030.

Industry observers note that Dangote’s foray into power generation, steel, and port infrastructure complements his downstream investments, including the recent petrol price adjustments, signalling a holistic approach to industrialisation and energy security.

Energy analysts warn that the current increase in petrol prices, while influenced by global crude market volatility, also reflects Dangote’s long-term strategy to strengthen Nigeria’s domestic energy sector. The refinery’s N874-per-litre gantry price sets the stage for retail rates that could reach or exceed N1,000, particularly if international tensions continue to push crude oil prices higher.

The development underscores the continued sensitivity of Nigeria’s fuel pricing structure to global market movements, even as the country seeks to expand domestic refining capacity. JPMorgan’s projections highlight potential volatility in global energy markets, especially if disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz persist.

Dangote’s broader industrial ambitions, from electricity generation to steel and port development, indicate that the private sector will play a pivotal role in mitigating such vulnerabilities while enhancing domestic energy production and economic resilience.

With refining, electricity, steel, and logistics expansion on the horizon, Dangote aims not only to stabilise the domestic fuel supply but also to drive Nigeria’s industrialisation, create employment, and strengthen Africa’s manufacturing base.

Source: https://punchng.com/petrol-may-hit-n1000-litre-as-dangote-hikes-price

He collected loan from the State and benefited immensely under Emiefewerey. How.does his business benefit the average Nigerian?

Make una just kukuma sell the country to Dangote...,...,.,..

Crude oil price rises...thus the petrol price rises.

Sometimes jaw jaw is better than war war

LordIsaac:
He collected loan from the State and benefited immensely under Emiefewerey. How.does his business benefit the average Nigerian?

LOL...he still had to pay back the loans. Loans are not 'benefits'...they have to be paid back eventually. If loans were benefits, people won't be grumbling about them

Plus most businesses take loans. And most of the loans he took came from private banks...who have to be paid. (CBN loan has been paid back)

EDOSBROWN:
Make una just kukuma sell the country to Dangote...,...,.,..

In other words, you want subsidy back.

The problem is, as you can see, when oil prices rises, the cost of subsidy rises. That means any windfall from oil prices rising would be spent mostly on subsidy...which means we no go see any benefits at the end of the day.

In 2011, subsidy costs were three times that of 2010, because oil prices went up from 91 dollars in 2010 to 110 and above in 2011...which meant that cost of subsidy rose drastically, meaning that at the end, the government wanted to remove subsidy in 2012, but you nigerians , and tinubu and buhari said no.

EDOSBROWN:
Make una just kukuma sell the country to Dangote...,...,.,..

Yeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!........

Make una continue to support dangote for his wikedness.

princeade86:
Make una continue to support dangote for his wikedness.

The problem with running a business is that you have to set prices that enable you to replenish stock, pay maintenance costs, pay for upgrades, pay staff a decent and competitive wage, pay taxes to the government (and you can be sure Lagos is taxing dangote well well), pay for liabilites, pay shareholders (yes, the refinery is about to go public) and pay for expansion costs, and pay back loans and so forth, and have someting left over.

Dangote cannot set prices that would satisfy the poor or the people laboring under harsh economy, because if he did that, his refinery will be scrap in a few years.

What you call wickedness...is how many people, not just Dangote, are able to earn enough to survive.

Unless you want dangote to pay his workers something like N3K for refinery workers, and N100000 for management staff, so that you can buy fuel at N100 per liter


And if you want subsidy, ask for your senator to pass the laws...but know that e go chop the oil money well well, and e go push us into more debt.

I dont want to worry anymore about mu.mu Nigerians.

After 2027 election when Tinubu returns, many eyes will be open. Tinubu relax import policies and food became cheap just to return a second Tenure and mu.mu Nigerians are rejoicing . Hahaha. I pity people

nairalanda1:
The problem with running a business is that you have to set prices that enable you to replenish stock, pay maintenance costs, pay for upgrades, pay staff a decent and competitive wage, pay taxes to the government (and you can be sure Lagos is taxing dangote well well), pay for liabilites, pay shareholders (yes, the refinery is about to go public) and pay for expansion costs, and pay back loans and so forth, and have someting left over.

Dangote cannot set prices that would satisfy the poor or the people laboring under harsh economy, because if he did that, his refinery will be scrap in a few years.

What you call wickedness...is how many people, not just Dangote, are able to earn enough to survive.

Unless you want dangote to pay his workers something like N3K for refinery workers, and N100000 for management staff, so that you can buy fuel at N100 per liter


And if you want subsidy, ask for your senator to pass the laws...but know that e go chop the oil money well well, and e go push us into more debt.

same thing he did to cement after he bought others out of market. Or the others don't pay their staff well before? Just pure wikedness. His coming to electricity as well na. Let wait and see.

This one don come with him chatgpt 😂

It will be subsidized
Election is coming.

Know this and know peace….






See more on my signature 👀👀👀👀

Since it's going to be dependent on location, something already tells me that my people in the South East will be the worst hit

That has always been the benchmark. They should should lying to us abeg

The ripple effect of the war. I pray it ends soon.

When we tell una say Dangote na monopolist, una been think say we dey whine!!!!
War never reach 1week them won come increase fuel

bluefilm:
Since it's going to be dependent on location, something already tells me that my people in the South East will be the worst hit

Makes no sense. FG should remove restrictions to market entry and access to crude oil. Let everyone with capital build their own refineries let's see how this greedy fellow will indiscriminately increase price.

adenigga:
Source: https://punchng.com/petrol-may-hit-n1000-litre-as-dangote-hikes-price

Petrol importers go begin dey rub their palms and lick their lips...

It's already 940 in my area.

Apc keep using dangote refinery to deceive themselves.

Those of you hailing Iran, US, Isreal, i hope you are beginning to see the effect real time.

War respect no person and this is fought by super powers.

Our own careless country will only have reason to fail even the more.

someone should educate me on this crude oil thing, if we have the crude oil here and dangote is refenering it here, then how come we depend on international oil prices to fix our own sales here...
maybe there is something I don't understand about this process so enlighten me.

Unfortunately expected as there'll likely be more demand and scarcity if prices stay same. Side effects of war and unrest. Hope it doesn't get worse.

onyxo76:
someone should educate me on this crude oil thing, if we have the crude oil here and dangote is refenering it here, then how come we depend on international oil prices to fix our own sales here...
maybe there is something I don't understand about this process so enlighten me.

It's more complex but in simple terms, demand increases if you are selling cheap. You'll likely short your real and direct costumers and consumers which is Nigeria. Plus OPEC and other institutional obligations.

What's up with BUA refinery? The entire country cannot afford to depend on Dangote alone as it leads monopolistic manipulation of prices

Emotions will flow on this thread.

I feel like most Nigerians, including those that said his refinery can never work, want him to sell at a cheaper price even if the global reality made the operations expensive for him.

Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that.

It can only happen if the government step in to cushion the effect of the ongoing war.

Dangote, very yeye man. Always quick to react and upwards in issues like this.

nairalanda1:
LOL...he still had to pay back the loans. Loans are not 'benefits'...they have to be paid back eventually. If loans were benefits, people won't be grumbling about them

Plus most businesses take loans. And most of the loans he took came from private banks...who have to be paid. (CBN loan has been paid back)

Technically, loans do not seem as benefits, but in reality, loans are. The reason is that business dreams won't come true without loans.

If loans weren't benefits, no founder would be killing themselves writing pitches, proposals and business plans and begging investors to plough in their businesses.

So, yes, Dangote benefited massively from loans given by the NNPC. The $2 billion NNPC gave to Dangote could be invested in more than 5k startups.

It now seems that the Nigerian petroleum industry & petroleum retail price have become like the game of ludo or chess for some people so powerful to keep pulling the strings... 🤔

It’s inevitable. When I said this over the weekend, some people wanted to tear my cloth on this forum. Those of you supporting the needless war started by your darling Trump, this is part of the consequences.

We should all just start praying that the conflict doesn’t escalate further and peace is restored quickly. If not, expect further increment.

nairalanda1:
The problem with running a business is that you have to set prices that enable you to replenish stock, pay maintenance costs, pay for upgrades, pay staff a decent and competitive wage, pay taxes to the government (and you can be sure Lagos is taxing dangote well well), pay for liabilites, pay shareholders (yes, the refinery is about to go public) and pay for expansion costs, and pay back loans and so forth, and have someting left over.

Dangote cannot set prices that would satisfy the poor or the people laboring under harsh economy, because if he did that, his refinery will be scrap in a few years.

What you call wickedness...is how many people, not just Dangote, are able to earn enough to survive.

Unless you want dangote to pay his workers something like N3K for refinery workers, and N100000 for management staff, so that you can buy fuel at N100 per liter


And if you want subsidy, ask for your senator to pass the laws...but know that e go chop the oil money well well, and e go push us into more debt.

You made a great point, but you missed something here.

Dangote must not be allowed to be the only company controlling the market because this is what we will continue to experience.

Do you know that Dangote did not load out to people who already paid for product because he wanted to adjust his price, something you hardly experience if we were importing.

If we were importing, by now we should have, at least, 5 MV at sea, meaning that price adjustment wouldn't have been as sharp as Dangote's.

The adjustment, to me, is so wide and that would put more pressure on the native economy.

You wont see Tinubu boiz come out to tell us now Tinubu reform is working

They wont start there theoritical nunsense, Competition is driving the market Tinubu reform nii

Now they have jump on $/naira again.. tinubu reform is yielding but when naira fall again they will hide.. sick people