Price War Between Dangote Refinery, Marketers Cost Petrol Retailers Billions in 2025 — PETROAN
- PETROAN said repeated petrol price cuts by the Dangote refinery in 2025 triggered a prolonged price war that cost retail outlet operators billions of naira in losses
- The association noted that the price war reduced profit margins, heightened uncertainty in the downstream market, and might have weakened investor confidence
- The group called for transparent and effective stakeholder engagement to ease tensions involving the Dangote refinery, labour unions, and regulators
Oluwatobi Odeyinka is a business editor at Legit.ng, covering energy, the money market, technology and macroeconomic trends in Nigeria.
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has noted that the price war, mainly between the Dangote refinery and major marketers, cost its members billions of naira in losses in 2025.
The association made the claim in its Review of Nigeria’s Petroleum Sector (2025) and Prospects for 2026, jointly signed by its national president, Billy Gillis-Harry, and its national public relations officer, Joseph Obele.
Source: Getty Images
In the document shared with Legit.ng, PETROAN noted that the price war also caused uncertainty in the downstream market and reduced profit margins for retail outlet operators.
The Dangote refinery reduced the price of petrol multiple times in 2025, forcing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and depot owners to do the same in a price war that lingered throughout the year.
PETROAN argued that the fluctuation of petrol prices may have affected investment confidence in the downstream petroleum sector, and rub the sector of the of competition.
“Tensions between petroleum importers and domestic refiners intensified in 2025, particularly over pricing dominance, crude access, and market share. This rivalry exposed policy gaps in balancing local refining incentives with fair competition and market neutrality,” the association stated in its review.
PETROAN calls for healthy stakeholders’ engagement
The association said it observed tension between the Dangote refinery and other stakeholders incuding the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
It called for effective and transparent stakeholder engagement, stressing that such is essential for achieving sustainable growth, reducing operational conflicts, and ensuring stability in the downstream petroleum market.
On Nigeria’s crude oil production
PETROAN stated that Nigeria recorded a modest recovery in crude oil production in 2025, driven by improved security interventions, pipeline surveillance, and partial restoration of shut-in assets.
However, Nigeria struggled to meet its OPEC quota of 1.5 million (excluding condensates) due to persistent oil theft and pipeline vandalism, ageing infrastructure and operational inefficiencies, limited upstream investment, and funding constraints.
“PETROAN notes that increased crude production is critical for sustaining domestic refining, improving foreign exchange inflows, and ensuring downstream supply stability,’ the review says.
Source: Getty Images
On petrol importation
Legit.ng reported that Alhaji Aliko Dangote consistently called for a ban on the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS), saying that his refinery can meet local demand.
PETROAN noted that importation has both merits and demerits, and called for a balance of importation and domestic refining.
“While petroleum importation plays a critical short-term role, over-reliance undermines local refinery development, fiscal sustainability, and energy security,” it stated.
Dangote, marketers in price war
Legit.ng earlier reported that Dangote Refinery price cut forced marketers to also slash petrol prices in their respective depots as each fought for a share of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market.
The move by independent marketers sought to upstage the refinery, as the facility intensified nationwide and international fuel distribution.
Experts said the price war was a result of the full deregulation of the downstream petroleum market, where the fittest survive.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
