FG Sends Message to Dangote, Fuel Marketers on Petrol Pricing
- The federal government is determined to ensure petrol prices at filling stations reflect declining global crude oil prices
- The NMDPRA said deregulation is not a licence for market distortion and urged operators to pass cost reductions on to consumers
- A meeting on fair pricing was convened, and it included Dangote petroluem Refinery management, marketers and regulators
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The federal government has called on Dangote Petroleum Refinery, fuel marketers and other downstream operators to lower petrol prices, insisting that Nigerians should benefit whenever global crude oil prices decline.
The message was a key focus of a high-level meeting at the headquarters of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in Abuja.
Source: Twitter
Participants at the meeting included Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), and other industry players, who discussed cost-reflective and fair pricing.
FG seeks fair petrol pricing
Speaking at the meeting, the Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA, Rabiu Umar, said the engagement was held at the directive of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, to ensure that petrol prices reflect prevailing market realities, the Cable reports.
Umar said.:
"Our objective is not to dictate, but to collaborate.
"We want to engage in an open, transparent, and solution-oriented dialogue. We want to hear your challenges, discuss market surveillance, look into inventory management, and align on how we can collectively accelerate key mechanisms like the National Strategic Stock (NSS) to protect our national energy security."
He urged industry players to work together to find a balanced path forward that keeps your businesses viable while ensuring that the public is fairly protected.
According to Umar, global crude oil prices have experienced significant volatility over the past six months due to geopolitical tensions and global conflicts, but have recently moderated as those pressures eased.
He said.:
"Recently, we have witnessed a welcome easing of those tensions, which has driven a downward shift and moderation in global crude prices."
However, he noted that domestic retail petrol prices have not adjusted in line with the decline in international crude prices.
Umar said.:
"As a responsible Regulatory Authority, it is our duty to step in alongside you, our valued partners, to interrogate the market forces, understand the operational bottlenecks, and directly address this disconnect between falling replacement costs and sustained retail prices."
Source: Getty Images
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's reforms had laid the foundation for a deregulated, competitive and investment-driven downstream petroleum market but stressed that deregulation should not be used to justify excessive pricing.
"Let me be clear: deregulation is not a license for market distortion or unfair consumer pricing. It is intended to drive efficiency, maximize value, and protect the public interest."
Umar added that marketers' profitability and consumer welfare could coexist if operators embraced transparency and competition, Punch reports.
"We need to build a transparent ecosystem where the benefits of market improvements are passed down to the Nigerian consumer in a timely and fair manner."
Dangote announces new petrol price lower than depots' rate
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has opened the sale of petrol to all licensed marketers, ending its previous consortium marketing arrangement.
The decision comes alongside a reduction in the refinery's ex-gantry price of petrol to 1,075 per litre from N1,125.
Dangote Refinery also aligned its coastal loading price with the ex-gantry price, eliminating the previous pricing difference between the two channels.
Source: Legit.ng
