…Flaws NMDPRA’s Fuel Imports Licensing Regime
The Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company has announced a new petrol pump price of N739 per litre, with MRS Oil & Gas serving as the new pricing rollout partner filling stations in furtherance of the refinery management’s promise to ease transportation fares for commuters during the end-year festivities nationwide.
The latest disclosure by the company came barely 24 hours after it announced a reduction in the refinery’s gantry (ex-depot), price from N828 to N699 per litre.
Speaking at a media briefing on the company’s planned pricing template for the end-year period on Sunday, President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, hinted MRS Oil & Gas filling stations would commence sales at N739 per litre from Tuesday, December 16, while other partner marketers would adjust their pumps to the new price shortly after.
According to him, the rollout may span one week and 10 days to achieve the pump price adjustments in the filling stations nationwide but the target is clear.
“For this December and January, we don’t want people to sell petrol for more than N740 nationwide. That N970 per litre, you won’t see it again.
“We are going to use whatever resources that we have to make sure that we crash the price down.
“If freight is N10 to N15, everything should cost about N715. Why do you want to sell at N900? People should get the real price
“Starting from Tuesday, MRS will start selling petrol at N739 per litre. Definitely, we will enforce that low price. If you have your truck, you can come here and buy it at N699”, the industrialist assured.
Dangote clarified that the refinery was not making excessive profit and that price cuts were being made to support the economy.
He accused some marketers of deliberately keeping prices high despite lower gantry prices, alleging that certain officials encouraged them to frustrate the reductions.
According to him, any marketer able to lift products of up to 10 trucks or more can buy directly from the refinery at N699 per litre, including IPMAN members.
He queried why pump prices were rising close to N900 per litre when transportation from the Lekki refinery costs no more than N10 to N15 per litre.
This is even as he flawed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), for issuing 47 import licences covering more than seven billion litres of petrol for the first quarter of 2026, saying the approval by the regulatory authority is undermining local refiners’ efforts to boost domestic capacity.
Lamenting that many modular refineries were on the verge of collapse, the industrialist maintained that encouragement of fuel imports by the NMDPRA could undermine domestic production and investments.