Business

Why Petrol, Diesel Prices May Not Drop Despite Dangote Refinery — Experts

Published

1 year ago

June 22, 2024

Experts believe that prices of petrol and diesel may not crash significantly despite the commencement of production at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

With the removal of subsidy on petrol in May 2023, the price per litre of petrol jumped from around N184 to over N600 depending on the location. Diesel also sells for about N1500 per litre at retail outlets.

Petrol marketers are optimistic that production at Dangote refinery will significantly force down the prices of petrol and diesel.

But the experts said though the behemoth refinery is located in Lagos, Nigeria, the input cost for the operationalisation of the $20bn facility is import-dependent, adding that the volatility of the foreign exchange rates might make it difficult for any marginal reduction in the prices of the premium commodities.

These were the thoughts of the Publisher of Sweet Crude Reports, Hector Igbikiowubo; and Nairametrics Founder, Ugodre Obi-Chukwu; on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Friday.

Both Igbikiowubo and Obi-Chukwu commended Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, for defying all odds to ensure that his dream to build a functional refinery came to life.

They said Dangote demonstrated that the Federal Government has no excuse not to get the country’s four dormant refineries working and urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to increase crude supply to the private refinery.

The billionaire business tycoon recently said his refinery would continue to import 24 million barrels of West Texas Intermediate crude due to insufficient local crude production and supply by the state-run NNPC.

The experts said though the private refinery won’t solve Nigeria’s energy security needs, its operations would go a long way in making premium petrol products available in the country.

“The Dangote Refinery cannot solve the problem because the Dangote Refinery will continue to pay for crude oil in USD (United States Dollar),” Igbikiowubo said.

“The question now is how come the NNPC isn’t allotting all of its 445,000 barrels per day to the Dangote Refinery for refining? Why is it convenient to export crude oil when you have a facility like the Dangote Refinery up and running? You make more money if you export refined petroleum products than if you export crude oil.”

Obi-Chukwu agreed with Igbikiowubo that the dominance of the greenback in the operational cost of the Dangote Refinery might not necessarily lower the cost of the refined products for end users.

Obi-Chukwu said, “As much as the refinery is local, most of the input cost for that refinery is still going to be imported. Whether it is the personnel that will service the refinery. Whether it is the spare parts that will be changed and serviced. Even the crude itself is also being imported.

“A lot of the breakdown of the cost still has foreign components in there. So, it is quite unlikely that you might see a substantial amount of savings to the end consumers. Nevertheless, even if we get 10% savings, it is still better than what we currently have.”

The refinery sited in Lagos and owned by the billionaire businessman commenced operations last December with 350,000 barrels a day. The refinery hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year.

The refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country while petrol supply is expected to commence mid-July.

Energy Security

The experts said though the Dangote Refinery has been operational, the country’s four refineries sited in three locations across the country should be made to function to guarantee energy security for the country.

The four state-owned refineries which are in dilapidated condition are sited up north in Kaduna with three units sited in the southern region – Port Harcourt and Warri. Attempts to get them working for about two decades have not been successful despite billions of naira spent on turnaround maintenance.

The newspaper publishers believe the Bola Tinubu administration should do all in its ability to make the state-owned refineries work.

Igbikiowubo said, “The essence of having the NNPC refineries working is to guarantee energy security for the Nigerian state.”

He said though the NNPC has about 20% stake in the Dangote Refinery, the refinery does not belong to the Nigerian state.

“We should have a coherent energy security in place,” he said. “If you have refineries, those refineries should work.”

Igbikiowubo said privatisation of the state-owned refineries does not guarantee energy security as the private company is interested in profit-making for its shareholders and not necessarily ensuring that the populace gets the premium commodities easily and at cheap rates.

“Where is NITEL today? It was privatised. Where is Daily Times today? It was privatised. We need to be accountable. The money sunk into the refineries, what happened to them?”Igbikiowubo asked.

“Last year, the petroleum minister granted an interview that the Port Harcourt Refinery would be up by December. This is June and nothing has happened. He is not being held to account.”

He said subsidy removal should be predicated on local refining and not import-dependent products controlled by the vagaries of foreign exchange.

“You have a group of persons who are benefitting with the status quo and they will do everything to ensure the status quo remains,” said the Sweet Crude Reports publisher.

‘Privatise With Clear Mandate’
The publisher of Nairametrics posited that privatisation can work – and it has worked before in other sectors of the country – if done the right way.

“We’ve practiced one model before, the government trying to run the refineries. It hasn’t worked. What we see now is funds being misappropriated from the very limited funding space that we have as a country and these funds are being squandered. So, there is no point. The same thing with the Ajaokuta Steel.

“You have to privatise properly with a clear mandate and key performance indicators including public list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE),” he said.

He urged the government to set the right policies to allow private businesses to flourish in the country.

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Business

Tinubu Approves 15% Import Duty On Petrol, Diesel

Published

7 days ago

October 30, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu has approved a 15 percent ad-valorem import duty on diesel and premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.

This was announced in a letter dated October 21, 2025, where the private secretary to the president, Damilotun Aderemi, conveyed Tinubu’s approval to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

Tinubu gave his approval, following a request by the FIRS to apply the 15 percent duty on the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) to align import costs to domestic realities.

With the approval, the implementation of the import duty will increase a litre of petrol by an estimated N99.72 kobo.

The latest development has led to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announcing that it has begun a detailed review of the country’s three petroleum refineries, with a view to bringing them back online.

NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Bayo Ojulari, made the announcement in a post on his official X handle on Wednesday night.

According to Ojulari, one of the options being explored by the NNPCL is to search for technical equity partners to ‘high-grade or repurpose’ the facilities.

Tagged: “Update on Our Refineries”, Ojulari said: “The NNPCL continues to remain optimistic that the refineries will operate efficiently, despite current setbacks.”

It can be recalled that despite spending about $3 billion on revamping the refineries, only the 60,000 barrels per day portion of the facility worked skeletally for just a few months before packing up.

The Warri refinery has remained ineffective weeks after it was gleefully announced to have returned to production, while the one situated in Kaduna State never took off at all.

Business

NNPCL Raises Fuel Price

Published

3 weeks ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has increased the pump price of petrol from ₦865 to ₦992 per litre, marking a fresh hike that has sparked widespread concern among motorists and consumers .

As of the time of filing this report, the company has not released any official statement explaining the reason for the sudden adjustment.

During visits to several NNPC retail outlets, The Nation observed fuel attendants recalibrating their pumps to reflect the new price.

At NNPC filling station on Ogunusi road, Ojodu Berger, petrol attendants at the station said they were instructed to change the price to reflect the new rate N992 per litre.

However, checks at Ibafo along the Lagos /Ibadan expressway showed that NNPC outlets still displayed the old price of N875 per litre, although they were not selling to commuters.

Most of the NNPC stations were not dispensing fuel.

Business

CBN Directs Banks To Refund Failed ATM Transactions Within 48hrs

Published

4 weeks ago

October 11, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria has directed Deposit Money Banks and other financial institutions to refund customers for failed Automated Teller Machine transactions within 48 hours, in a sweeping reform aimed at protecting consumers and restoring confidence in the banking system.

The directive is contained in a draft guideline released by the apex bank on Saturday, titled “Exposure of the Draft Guidelines on the Operations of Automated Teller Machines in Nigeria.”

The document, signed by Musa I. Jimoh, Director of Payments System Policy Department, was circulated to banks, payment service providers, card schemes, and independent ATM deployers, with a call for stakeholder feedback by October 31, 2025.

Under the draft, failed “on-us” transactions, where customers use their own bank’s ATM, must be reversed instantly. If technical glitches prevent immediate reversal, the bank is required to manually refund the customer within 24 hours.

For “not-on-us” transactions, involving other banks’ ATMs, refunds must be processed within 48 hours.

“Customers must not be made to suffer for failed transactions caused by system errors or network failures,” the circular stressed.

In a significant shift, the CBN mandated banks and ATM acquirers to deploy technology that automatically reverses failed or partial transactions, removing the need for customers to lodge complaints.

Institutions holding customer funds due to failed disbursements must reconcile and return balances immediately.

According to the apex bank, these measures respond to widespread frustration over delayed refunds and poor customer service and form part of a broader effort to enhance consumer protection, improve reliability, and modernise Nigeria’s payment infrastructure in line with global standards.

The guidelines will also overhaul ATM operations nationwide. Banks and card issuers are now required to deploy at least one ATM for every 5,000 active cards, with phased targets of 30% compliance in 2026, 60% in 2027, and full compliance by 2028. Any future deployment, relocation, or decommissioning of ATMs must receive prior approval from the CBN.

To ensure safety, ATMs must be fitted with anti-skimming devices, CCTV cameras, and placed in enclosed or well-lit areas.

Machines are expected to comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, maintain audit logs, and display functional helpdesk contacts. At least 2% of all ATMs must feature tactile symbols for visually impaired customers.

ATMs are also required to dispense cash before returning cards, allow free PIN changes, issue receipts for all transactions except balance inquiries, display clear transaction fees, dispense only clean banknotes, and provide backup power to reduce downtime.

Downtime must not exceed 72 consecutive hours, after which operators must inform the public of the cause and expected restoration time.

The CBN will enforce compliance through regular audits, on-site inspections, and monthly reports from ATM operators detailing deployments and locations. Defaulting institutions risk sanctions, though fines were not specified.

The apex bank explained that the overhaul was necessary due to rising complaints about failed transactions, cyber fraud, and declining service quality, noting that “the goal is to build a payments system that works seamlessly for everyone, urban and rural users alike.”

Nigeria’s electronic payments landscape has grown rapidly in recent years, with 200 million cardholders and rising reliance on digital banking, but network failures, poor infrastructure, and delayed reversals have continued to undermine confidence.

The fresh guidelines, coming eight months after a revision of ATM fees, are expected to streamline service delivery, enhance transaction security, and hold banks accountable. Stakeholders are invited to submit feedback ahead of the final policy adoption, which could take effect before the end of the year.