The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is preparing to introduce a new petrol pricing regime after lifting approximately 103 million litres from the Dangote Refinery between September 15 and 30, 2024. Sources familiar with the situation has revealed.
During this period, the refinery loaded 2,207 out of the 3,621 trucks dispatched, transporting a total of 102,973,025 litres of the targeted 400 million litres of petrol, initially scheduled for lifting at a rate of 25 million litres per day.
According to records reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES, this represented just 26 percent of the expected output.
The NNPC began lifting petrol from Dangote Refinery on September 15 as its sole off-taker. On the same day, the company announced it was purchasing petrol from the refinery at ₦898.78 per litre and selling it to marketers at ₦765.99 per litre, effectively subsidizing the product by about ₦133 per litre.
As supplies from the Dangote Refinery are distributed to fueling stations nationwide, the NNPC indicated that petrol prices would rise due to depot sale prices, statutory charges, transportation costs, and regional distribution challenges.
Despite this, petrol pump prices at NNPC stations across Nigeria have ranged between ₦855 and ₦897 over the past month, depending on location.
However, with the NNPC depleting its imported petrol stock and increasingly relying on shipments from Dangote Refinery, insiders have warned that a price hike is inevitable.
Previously, the company’s September 16 pricing template indicated that once all costs were factored in, petrol prices at Lagos stations would rise to ₦950.22 per litre, ₦980.22 in Rivers State, and ₦992.22 in Abuja.
In Nigeria’s North-West geopolitical zone, the cost was projected to reach ₦999.22 per litre, with prices in Borno and other North-Eastern states expected to hit ₦1,019 per litre. In the South-East, petrol was estimated to cost ₦980.22 per litre, while in South-West states (Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Osun, Ondo), it would be ₦960.22 per litre.
However, insiders indicated that the September 16 estimate is now outdated due to fluctuations in the foreign exchange rate and rising crude oil prices driven by escalating tensions in the Middle East.
“With crude now trading above $78 per barrel as of Sunday and the naira exchanging at ₦1,660 to a dollar, there is no way petrol can sell for less than ₦1,350 per litre in Nigeria,” an official said.
On September 3, the NNPC had already raised petrol prices at its pumps from ₦617 per litre to between ₦855 and ₦897, depending on the location.
Source: Premium Times
