Private petroleum depot owners across Nigeria raised loading prices for Premium Motor Spirit and Automotive Gas Oil on Tuesday, with petrol increasing by ₦113 per litre and diesel rising by ₦150 per litre following Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s abrupt switch from naira to dollar-denominated sales.
The adjustments were recorded across depots in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Warri, reversing weeks of relative stability in the downstream petroleum market as marketers moved to reprice existing and incoming cargoes.
The increases came less than 24 hours after Dangote Refinery began invoicing gantry and coastal buyers of petrol, diesel and aviation fuel exclusively in United States dollars.
The decision ended the naira-based pricing arrangement maintained by the refinery since October 2024 under the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude initiative.
Under the revised pricing template, which took effect on Monday, Dangote Refinery fixed its ex-depot petrol price at $0.779 per litre.
Diesel was benchmarked at $1.087 per litre, while Aviation Turbine Kerosene was priced at $0.942 per litre.
Coastal petrol cargoes were fixed at $1,044.62 per metric tonne.
In a notice sent to marketers, the refinery cancelled all previously issued naira-denominated pro forma invoices and deal recaps covering gantry and coastal transactions.
Customers were instructed to make new payments through the dollar-denominated framework.
The policy applies to petrol, diesel and aviation fuel transactions but excludes liquefied petroleum gas sales.
Depot operators responded almost immediately by raising their loading prices, with marketers attributing the increase to the currency change and the cost of sourcing dollars in Nigeria’s pressured foreign-exchange market.
Although the naira equivalent of Dangote’s new petrol benchmark, calculated at approximately ₦1,376 to the dollar, was said to be broadly aligned with previous ex-depot prices, private depots introduced significantly higher adjustments.
Industry traders said the difference between the theoretical naira equivalent and the prices announced by depot owners suggested that marketers were adding a foreign-exchange risk premium.
The premium is intended to protect marketers against possible further depreciation of the naira between the purchase of products and their eventual sale.
The increase also occurred as global crude oil prices continued to rise.
As of 10 p.m. West African Time, Brent crude was trading at $86.03 per barrel, representing a daily increase of 3.28 per cent.
West Texas Intermediate stood at $79.73 per barrel, up 2.03 per cent.
Although Dangote Refinery’s currency switch was identified as the immediate trigger for Tuesday’s depot-price adjustments, marketers also considered the rise in international crude prices when setting new loading rates.
Industry sources linked Dangote Refinery’s decision to a growing mismatch between the currency in which it purchases crude oil and the currency in which it sells refined petroleum products.
The refinery has increasingly relied on imported crude purchased in dollars because supplies received under the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude arrangement have allegedly remained below its operational requirements.
Dangote Refinery has a processing capacity of approximately 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
However, a source familiar with its operations said the facility had been receiving only a fraction of the monthly crude cargoes required under the naira-denominated arrangement.
The shortfall reportedly forced the refinery to source more crude from the international market and exposed it to foreign-exchange losses while selling much of its output in naira.
The switch to dollar invoicing is therefore expected to align the currency used for purchasing crude with that used for selling refined products.
Analysts warned that dollar-denominated sales could make domestic petroleum-product prices more sensitive to movements in the naira exchange rate.
Any further depreciation of the Nigerian currency could translate rapidly into higher depot and retail pump prices.
The increases could also raise transportation costs and contribute to broader consumer inflation, as petrol and diesel remain essential to the movement of people and goods and the operation of businesses dependent on private power generation.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria had not responded to requests for comment.
Dangote Refinery had also not issued a separate public statement beyond the notice sent to marketers announcing the immediate implementation of dollar-based payments for gantry and coastal transactions.
The post “Petrol Loading Price Rises By ₦113/Litre, Diesel By ₦150” — Private Depots Reprice After Dangote Switches To Dollar Sales appeared first on TheNigeriaLawyer.
