December 28, (THEWILL) — Nigeria’s downstream oil market has been thrown into intense competition as several filling stations slash petrol prices by as much as N100 per litre following the resumption of free nationwide delivery by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery. Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical had commenced nationwide sales of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at a pump price of N739 per litre across all MRS Oil Nigeria Plc filling stations.
This move represents a significant milestone in the refinery’s mission to deliver affordable fuel to Nigerians and stabilise the downstream petroleum market.
It also triggered a full-blown fuel price war, forcing marketers to sell below cost to retain customers. This erases the nightmare of the past where petrol scarcity was rife especially during the festive seasons.
With over 2,000 MRS stations in partnership with Dangote nationwide, the new pricing is expected to be implemented across all outlets, ensuring that the benefits of this reduction reach consumers nationwide. Backed by a guaranteed daily supply of 50 million litres, this initiative fundamentally alters the supply dynamics during the holiday period.
Historically, the festive season has been associated with fuel scarcity and sharp price hikes. However, Dangote Refinery has delivered a decisive market intervention, crashing pump prices at a time Nigerians typically brace for hardship.
By refining locally at scale, the Refinery is reducing Nigeria’s exposure to volatile global markets, conserving foreign exchange, stabilising the naira, and strengthening energy security. This sustained price cut and steady supply are providing relief to households, businesses and transport operators nationwide.
A country blessed with rich deposits of crude oil has wallowed in perennial petrol scarcity, particularly at Christmas and New Year periods, when the product is most needed.
The arrival of Dangote on the scene appears to have upturned the apple cart but has been met with harsh resistance. The forces of darkness, who were used to doing things in a particular way for some sinister motives became uncomfortable, hence the narrative of monopoly against Dangote.
Some critics have come up with conspiracy theory and blind allegation that to have a monopoly in the critical oil space in Nigeria may be hurtful and dangerous. These critics have also pointed to what is happening in other spaces, like cement, where Dangote operates and how it would seem that competitors have been emasculated and end users exploited. They raise the fear that a time might come when the refinery could go monopolistic and begin to afflict the same people it claims to be rendering service to.
There is also the argument that the refinery does not meet the local needs, hence the clamour for mass issuance of licences to some individuals and companies to import petrol.
Attention seems to be shifted away from the fact that over the years, Nigerians have suffered seriously despite the four refineries owned by the federal government. None is working with all the government stories and propaganda.
An oil marketer, Gregg Alimoho noted that if an individual decided to invest massively with $20 billion to achieve what a government cannot every well-meaning and sensible Nigerian should support the project.
“People are talking about the fear of a monopoly; my response to that is, let those who have the capacity come up with their own refineries. What we must not do is to allow cheap imports to destroy our quest to industrialise. Once you begin to bring in cheap petrol, you have destroyed the good effort of Dangote,” said Alimoho.
He added, “Most Nigerians have forgotten that we have four refineries that have remained comatose for over two decades, yet consuming huge resources without refining a litre of product.” The facilities have remained a conduit for siphoning public funds by politicians and NNPCL employees. They are now a theatre of absurd for all sorts of jamboree in the exploitation of the poor masses.
Approximately three weeks after the National Assembly initiated an inquiry into the ongoing repairs of the country’s refineries, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has recommenced efforts to restore the facilities that have been inactive for over twenty years.
On Thursday, October 9, 2025, the House of Representatives resolved to probe the over $18 billion reportedly expended on the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna over the last twenty years without achieving significant outcomes.
This decision followed the adoption of a motion presented during plenary by Hon. Sesi Oluwaseun Whingan regarding the non-functionality of state-owned refineries. In his motion, Whingan expressed his concerns regarding the ongoing inefficacy of the refineries despite numerous turnaround maintenance projects and repeated assurances from the government.
This marks the third inquiry by the lawmakers since the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly in 2023. The two prior investigations yielded no results, nor did the lawmakers release any reports.
On October 24, 2023, the Senate established an ad-hoc committee to investigate all contracts estimated at over N11.35 trillion that were awarded for the rehabilitation of the four inactive refineries in the country. This followed a motion brought by Senator Sunday Karimu on the “unending repairs of the nation’s refineries despite the huge resources invested in fixing them.”
Karimu said, “We are concerned that the Federal Government of Nigeria has carried out rehabilitation projects in Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC) over a period of seven years from 2013-2019 at an estimated cost of N12,161,237,811.61. In addition, on the 18th March 2021, a rehabilitation contract was executed between NNPC/PHRC and Tenenimont SPA at a Lump Sum of $1,397,000,000.00, about N75 billion naira amidst global public criticism, no result has been achieved.” The Senate ad-hoc committee was asked to report back in four weeks. No report was submitted.
The NNPCL has announced a fresh target of June 2026 to finalise the selection of technical partners for the country’s state-owned refineries, following years of failed rehabilitation efforts and a sharp decline in refining expertise.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, disclosed this during a question-and-answer session at a press briefing in Abuja, where the company announced a Profit After Tax of N5.4tn for the 2024 financial year, the strongest in its corporate history.
Ojulari said Nigeria’s refineries, the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna plants, despite ongoing rehabilitation, remain “well below international standards,” making their products commercially uncompetitive, especially compared to the privately owned Dangote Refinery.
He, however, explained that the current management is seeking competent private partners with proven refinery management experience to support the revival of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
Mr Sunday Esan, Senior General Manager, Corporate Communications at Dangote Industries Ltd., said the Dangote Refinery has saved Nigeria more than N10 billion annually in foreign exchange by replacing fuel imports with locally refined products.
Speaking during the 2025 Media Week of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State Council, Esan noted that the refinery had significantly reduced the nation’s dependence on imported petroleum products.
“Dangote refinery is more than a national landmark; it is reducing foreign exchange outflows, driving GDP growth, creating jobs, positioning Nigeria as a regional energy hub, and strengthening our national energy supply,” Esan said, noting that fuel imports dropped by 1.54 per cent in the first quarter of 2025. “While Nigeria spent $2.6 billion on fuel imports in Q1 2024, the figure declined sharply to $1.2 billion in Q1 2025.”
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
