Dangote Refinery returns to naira sales with ₦140 price increase, pump prices spike nationwide
Petrol prices are climbing across Nigeria after the Dangote Petroleum Refinery abandoned its short-lived dollar pricing policy, resuming sales in the local currency but at a significantly higher ex-depot rate.
The refinery's commercial department issued a notice on Wednesday confirming that the adjustment took effect on 22 July 2026. The gantry price of petrol jumped from ₦1,075 to ₦1,215 per litre, a ₦140, or 13.02 percent, rise. Coastal loading rates moved from ₦1,441,575 per metric tonne to ₦1,602,495.
"Please be advised that all unloaded gantry volumes will be subject to repricing at the new price, which is effective 22nd July 2026," the notice stated. "Kindly proceed with placing your order."
Jeremiah Olatide, CEO of Petroleumprice.ng, confirmed the shift back to naira transactions.
The reversal comes just over a week after the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery suspended truck loading on 15 July and moved to dollar-denominated sales. That decision disrupted supply, pushing private depot prices from around ₦1,075 to approximately ₦1,275 per litre as marketers scrambled for alternatives.
Independent marketers had stopped buying from the refinery, complaining that securing dollars for payments had become prohibitively difficult. Industry voices warned that sustaining dollar sales would ramp up foreign exchange demand, weaken the naira, and force pump prices even higher. With national daily consumption estimated at 50 million litres, marketers would have needed roughly $40 million each day, exceeding $14 billion annually, to keep supplies flowing.
The refinery had justified the temporary dollar policy by pointing to shortfalls in crude supply under the federal government's naira-for-crude scheme. To meet production needs, it turned to the international market, paying in dollars.
A senior regulatory official explained the thinking at the time: "The naira-for-crude deal is not to Dangote's advantage right now because the company is sourcing crude in dollars. He has absorbed a lot. But maybe he has got to a breaking point. So he has to do stuff to recover costs. And that's why he wants to share that burden with off-takers."
After marketers raised alarms over fuel supply and currency pressures, the federal government intervened, opening talks with the Dangote Group about the naira-for-crude arrangement's future.
Despite the return to naira pricing, industry operators expect the new ex-depot rate of ₦1,215 to fuel additional hikes at depots and pumps, barring a drop in global crude prices. On Wednesday, with Brent crude trading near $94 a barrel amid renewed Middle East tensions, petrol was selling for roughly ₦1,300 per litre in Lagos and other cities.
Adding to the pressure, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited raised pump prices for the second time in under two days. A market survey showed NNPCL increased its rate from ₦1,270 on Tuesday to ₦1,335 on Wednesday, a ₦65 jump. The new price was already in place at filling stations across Abuja, including outlets in Wuse Zone 6, Zone 4 and other parts of the Federal Capital Territory.