Big U-Turn: Dangote Refinery Dumps Dollar Sales After FG Steps In—What It Means for Fuel Prices
- The Dangote Refinery has reversed its decision to sell petrol to Nigerians in dollars after the intervention of the Nigerian government
- The decision has brought relief to the petroleum sector, as marketers said the decision will not cause a hike in fuel prices
- Experts and energy policy analysts hailed the decision, saying it has lifted an impending pressure on the naira
Pascal Oparada, a reporter for Legit.ng, has over ten years of experience covering technology, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy.
Dangote Refinery suspended plans to sell petrol in dollars just a day after halting sales in naira.
The facility disclosed in an email to customers that the decision followed the intervention of the Nigerian government.
Source: Getty Images
FG’s intervention stops hike in petrol prices
According to the statement, the decision came as the Naira-for-Crude Technical Committee Chairman intervened.
It clarified that the sales of petrol will resume in the local currency, effective immediately.
“You may kindly proceed to place your orders in Naira for both self-collection and Free delivery of PMS to the earlier advised locations across the country.”
On Friday, September 27, 2025, the refinery announced the suspension of petrol sales in naira, citing the depletion of its crude-naira-sale allocation.
The Nigerian government commenced the sale of crude oil in dollars to the refinery on October 1, 2024, to boost supply, save foreign exchange on imports, and ease pump prices.
Dangote Refinery and Naira-for-crude sales initiative
According to reports, on March 10, 2025, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) stopped the naira-for-sale initiative until 2030 after forward-selling all its crude.
After a few days, the 650,000-bpd-capacity refinery announced a temporary halt in the sale of petroleum products in naira.
However, on April 9, 2025, the Nigerian government confirmed the continuation of the initiative beyond the first phase, ending on March 31, 2025.
According to a BusinessDay report, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, said more updates on the naira-for-crude deal will be given in due course.
Experts hail Dangote’s decision
Experts have hailed the decision by Dangote Refinery to resume petrol sales in naira, saying it will ease forex pressure and boost the naira’s value in the forex markets.
“Imagine the pressure the decision would have put the FX market into. It would have put pressure on the naira, created dollar scarcity because all the marketers will flood the market at the same time in search of FX,” financial analyst Osas Igho said.
Meanwhile, the Dangote Refinery’s announcement had raised petrol pump prices, with marketers already adjusting their pumps above the N860 per litre ceiling.
Source: Getty Images
In a related development, the mega refinery hiked its petrol ex-depot price to N860, a decision analysts said was caused by the rise in crude oil prices, which hit a seven-week high recently.
Dangote fuel distribution fails to lower petrol prices
Legit.ng earlier reported that one week after the Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced the commencement of its direct petrol distribution with free delivery, Nigerians were yet to feel the impact.
The refinery had pegged pump prices at N841 per litre in Lagos and neighbouring Southwest states, and N851 in Abuja, Delta, Rivers, Edo, and Kwara.
However, a market survey revealed that motorists are still buying fuel at higher prices in several states, with rates ranging from N865 to N895 per litre.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
