The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria has said increased competition in the downstream petroleum sector forced the Dangote Petroleum Refinery to slash the ex-depot price of diesel by N200 per litre.
Checks on Petroleumprice.ng showed that the price of diesel dropped from N1,800 to N1,600.
The National Public Relations Officer of PETROAN, Dr Joseph Obele, disclosed the association’s position in a statement on Tuesday, describing the development as a clear indication that competition, not monopoly, would deliver lower fuel prices for Nigerians.
According to him, the refinery reduced the price of Automotive Gas Oil, popularly known as diesel, from N1,800 per litre to N1,600 per litre after fresh imported products entered the Nigerian market.
Obele said, “The Dangote refinery recently took legal action after NMDPRA granted five import licences to marketers for the importation of petroleum products.
“Over the weekend, several of the vessels reportedly arrived, and today the refinery reduced the price of AGO, commonly known as diesel, by N200. The reduction is from N1,800 to N1,600,” he stated.
The PETROAN spokesman described the price cut as a direct consequence of market rivalry in the deregulated downstream sector. “This development is widely seen as a positive impact of increased competition in the downstream petroleum sector,” Obele said.
According to him, the latest reduction may have been strategically targeted at importers whose products were already en route to the country, “as the new selling price at the Dangote refinery is significantly lower than the landing cost of the importers”.
Obele maintained that the development further strengthened arguments against monopoly in the petroleum sector. “All hail competition and say no to monopoly in the petroleum industry. The more the competition, the better prices consumers will enjoy,” he added.
The development comes amid an ongoing legal dispute involving the Dangote refinery against the Attorney General of the Federation and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited over fuel importation into Nigeria.
The refinery had approached the Federal High Court in Lagos to challenge the issuance of petroleum import licences by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to some marketers and oil trading firms.
The Dangote refinery, in the suit, reportedly argued that the continued issuance of import permits was undermining local refining and discouraging investments in domestic petroleum production.
The refinery also maintained that Nigeria has sufficient local refining capacity to meet domestic demand and therefore questioned the justification for continued fuel imports.
But the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited told the Federal High Court in Lagos that petroleum products from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE are sold at “significantly high and fluctuating market prices”, warning that granting the refinery’s requests could hand it monopoly control of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector.
The national oil company stated this in a counter-affidavit in opposition to the Dangote refinery’s originating summons in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/857/2026 before the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division.
Similarly, marketers under the aegis of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria supported the NNPC, saying competition must be allowed in the petroleum sector to prevent price exploitation, and that multiple sources of petrol supply would bring about a reduction in fuel prices.
Industry operators, however, remain divided over the issue, with some supporting unrestricted imports to encourage competitive pricing, while others insist local refineries should be protected to ensure sustainability and energy security.
