The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has once again raised the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, at its retail outlets.
This price hike was quietly implemented on Tuesday.
Previously, the NNPC had raised the pump price from ₦855 per litre in September to ₦998 per litre on October 3. However, the price at NNPC outlets on Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos, has now reached ₦1,025 per litre. In Abuja’s Federal Housing area, Kubwa, an NNPC station is now selling PMS at ₦1,050 per litre.
Other private fuel stations, including Mobil, Rain Oil, and AA Rano, have also adjusted their prices, with petrol now ranging between ₦1,100 and ₦1,250 per litre.
The increase comes over a month after the NNPC began distributing petrol from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s gantry, following extensive price negotiations. On 15 September, the NNPC announced that it was purchasing petrol from Dangote refinery at ₦898 per litre. However, the Dangote refinery disputed this claim, labelling it “misleading and mischievous.”
The day after, the NNPC released estimated pump prices based on Dangote refinery rates, stating petrol would be priced at ₦950 in Lagos and ₦999 in Abuja.
On October 10, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) urged the NNPC to either refund payments to oil marketers or sell petrol to its members at Dangote refinery rates. IPMAN stated that members’ funds had been held by the NNPC for over three months. The association claims that while NNPC sourced PMS from the Dangote refinery at under ₦900 per litre, it has been selling to marketers at significantly higher rates—₦1,010 in Lagos, ₦1,045 in Calabar, ₦1,050 in Port Harcourt, and ₦1,040 in Warri.
On October 11, the federal government announced that oil marketers could now purchase petroleum products directly from the Dangote refinery and other local producers, reversing its previous directive that restricted Dangote’s petrol sales to the NNPC alone.
