Oil marketers under the auspices of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) have urged the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to protect industry players against the “sudden reduction” of petrol prices.
“The NMDPRA (Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority), and the consumer protection agency should swing into action and work collaboratively with all the stakeholders so that we can have a stable market, a stable price,” PETROAN President, Billy Gillis-Harry, said on a national television.
On February 26, 2025, the $20 billion refinery owned by Africa’s richest man and industrialist Aliko Dangote, slashed the ex-depot price of petrol from N890 to N825 per litre.
Under the new arrangement, customers purchase the premium commodity at N860 per litre at selected outlets in Lagos, N870 in the South-West, N880 in the North, and N890 in the South-South and South-East. Dangote has also reduced the price of diesel in recent times.
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Almost immediately, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited reduced its retail price from N945 to N860 in Lagos, with a similar price reduction reflected at NNPCL outlets in other states of the Federation.
Some analysts and industry experts have hailed the price war, saying it will “erode abnormal profit” enjoyed by capitalists but petrol marketers who still import the premium commodity have lamented the loss they incurred as a result of the sudden price drop.
The PETROAN boss said: “My members are buying products from every possible source, and the size of the losses anticipated by unstable prices can only be imagined; the size of the loss and the possibility of most of us getting out of business glared at us in the face.
“As much as we are making efforts to ensure that Nigerians have product availability from our end, as the last mile in the industry, we also want to stay afloat in being liquid.
“The challenge we have is that we buy products today at a certain price, and before the close of business, the prices have reduced.
“Every business can only survive making a minimal profit that is commensurate with paying the cost of doing business.
“When we invest to buy the product say at about ₦890 and land it in our station at maybe an additional ₦10, ₦15 more, you are not going to expect us to sell less than that. And if that same product suddenly reduces to ₦840 or ₦860 or ₦870, it becomes worrisome how we are going to recover the cost of our money.”
Gillis-Harry demanded a liberalised trade with a mix of local production and importation, saying “nobody should be left out or left behind” in the value chain.
He said marketers “have capacity to do our imports and we have capacity to buy products locally refined. However, if consistently, we are seeing that prices shift down, and there are no clear consultations on how this should be done, to the benefit of Nigerians,” it threatens business.
“There should be a mechanism by which this price fluctuation should be analysed and ensure that it doesn’t impact negatively on the industry,” he said.