Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Dangote Refinery has resumed selling refined petroleum products in the local currency after suspending the sale of petroleum products in naira for 22 days. The facility has also reduced its ex-gantry price to N865 per litre, a reduction of N15 from N880 per litre sold on Wednesday. The refinery informed marketers and customers in a notice sent out on Thursday morning. The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, reassured the public of the price drop while commenting on the Federal Executive Council's directive regarding the naira-for-crude agreement. The policy is aimed at strengthening Nigeria's economic sovereignty, enhancing local refining capacity, and stabilizing the foreign exchange market by reducing the demand for dollars in domestic petroleum transactions.Filling stations with special agreements with Dangote Refinery are expected to reduce their pump price to N910, reflecting a marginal reduction in the ex-depot price of premium commodity. This decision has drawn mixed reactions from petroleum marketers, with some claiming it puts them at a disadvantage. The move has sparked fresh competition in the downstream segment, with experts predicting a drop in fuel prices. However, retail outlets need to be regulated not to overprice for abnormal profits.

The NNPCL, which is the sole off-taker “for now” of product from the new refinery, said it bought petrol per litre at N898. But the refinery contradicted the claim, saying it sold it for less, but did not give the figure. President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, repeated the position of his company in an interview with Bloomberg. He also did not give the amount but said the refinery sold the petrol to NNPCL at an “international price”. On September 15, the NNPCL received the first batch of products from the refinery. Soneye said NNPCL paid $120 million to Dangote Refinery for 25 million litres but said on the eve of supply, the refinery wrote to the oil giant that it could only be able to supply 16.8 million litres. He added that the refinery could not even meet up to that promise. The NNPCL, saying it bought per litre at N898, put the pump price at between N950 in Lagos; N992 in Abuja and N1,019 in Maiduguri, which is the farthest distance to the Lagos supply point. The price announcement sparked outrage among Nigerians, who eagerly expected a lower pump price from the Dangote Refinery.