Nigeria's fuel price war could be back on as Dangote shakes the market again
Aliko Dangote continues to impact Nigeria's fuel market through competitive pricing strategies.
Recently, the Dangote Oil Refinery reduced fuel prices twice in two weeks, now at N820 per liter.
This move aims to alleviate financial pressures on Nigerian consumers amid global supply chain changes.
The Dangote Refinery's concurrent fuel price cut is reminiscent of his strategy earlier this year, when he forced the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into a pricing war, inadvertently dominating the fuel market.
Last week, the Dangote Oil Refinery reduced the gantry price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, by 4.5%, lowering the fuel price from N880 to N840 per liter.
This week, the refinery has yet again slashed fuel prices, this time from N840 to N820.
As reported by the Punch, this shows a drop of N60 (6.82%) in less than a week.
According to the spokesman of the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, the move is intended to ease spending for Nigerians.
'We have reduced petrol gantry price to N820 from N840 per litre,' he stated, disclosing that the initiative took effect from Tuesday.
Just a few weeks back, Dangote, the NNPC, and other marketers had increased fuel prices in response to the conflict in the Middle East, specifically the scuffle between Israel and Iran.
However, Dangote has reversed this decision, altering fuel prices to reflect the realities of the global supply chain.
Dangote's price war
Beginning in December 2024, Dangote started reducing fuel prices to make the commodity more affordable to Nigerians.
This fuel cuts ramped up in the new year, as reports indicated every other week that the newly functional oil refinery was slowly chipping away at the cost of fuel.
At the height of the price cuts, fuel prices had gone from as high as N1200 per liter to N860, forcing the entire market to react, with some players highlighting the losses they had to endure.
According to these marketers, they imported petroleum at a certain cost and were compelled to decrease their rates due to Dangote's competitive pricing, resulting in razor-thin profit margins and, in some cases, outright losses.
This dynamic defined the pricing war in Q1 2025, up until the NNPC responded by shutting off crude supply to the Dangote Refinery.
The NNPC's response, together with other external market forces, undoubtedly resulted in fuel prices surging again.
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