THE price war in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector has intensified, with several filling stations now selling Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, at prices below the N739 per litre benchmark set by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Findings by News Point Nigeria show that the aggressive competition follows the refinery’s dramatic decision in December to slash pump prices from about N900 to N739 per litre, a move that has disrupted the market and forced importers and depot owners into survival mode.
A survey conducted over the weekend revealed that some retail outlets are now undercutting even MRS Oil Nigeria Plc, the primary partner endorsed by the Dangote refinery to champion the N739 price regime nationwide.
As of Sunday, NIPCO filling stations were dispensing petrol at N738 per litre, SAO stations sold at N735, while Akiavic outlets offered the product at N737 per litre. In Mowe, Ogun State, an AP filling station located beside an MRS outlet slashed its price to N736 per litre, drawing more customers and intensifying competition in the area.
Industry sources said filling stations now closely monitor rivals’ pump prices, adjusting rates in real time to avoid losing customers. Motorists, in turn, are increasingly patronising outlets offering even marginally lower prices, leaving stations selling at higher rates struggling to attract traffic.
According to data from the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), the average landing cost of imported petrol stands at N762.38 per litre, while Dangote refinery’s ex-gantry price remains N699. Despite the tight margins and rising losses, importers and retailers have continued to slash prices to stay competitive in a market reshaped by Dangote’s pricing strategy.
Earlier reports indicated that both the refinery and petrol importers were counting losses running into billions of naira as the price battle intensified.
Operators who spoke to News Point Nigeria said the downward price adjustments were not necessarily driven by cheaper imports but by the need to protect market share in a liberalised and highly competitive environment.
“This is not a function of whether imports are cheaper or better,” one operator said on condition of anonymity. “It is simply a market strategy to avoid being pushed out. However, it must be stressed that we are not at war with any marketer, depot operator, or refinery.”
The disruption began on December 12 when the Dangote refinery stunned the market by reducing its gantry price by N129, from N828 to N699 per litre. Days later, the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, warned that some marketers were planning to keep pump prices high despite the reduction.
Dangote vowed to enforce the new pricing regime nationwide, insisting that petrol should not sell above N740 per litre in December and January.
“We are going to use whatever resources we have to make sure that we crash the price down,” Dangote said. “Those who want to keep the price high to sabotage the government, we will fight as much as we can to make sure these prices are down.”
Following the directive, MRS filling stations across Lagos, Ogun, and other states began selling petrol at N739 per litre, triggering fuel queues as motorists boycotted outlets with higher prices.
However, the dynamics are now shifting as more retailers move below the Dangote-backed price, intensifying the competition.
The spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, said the market had entered a full-blown price war where patronage is driven strictly by cost.
“Competition is now determined by price,” Ukadike said. “Nobody is regulating you; the market will regulate itself. Wherever fuel is cheaper, that is where motorists will go.”
He warned that marketers who refuse to adjust prices risk losing customers while bank interest charges erode their capital.
Once Dangote reduced the gantry price to N699, Ukadike added, retailers were compelled to respond or face financial pressure.
Meanwhile, the Dangote refinery, in a statement issued over the weekend, disclosed that its supply arrangements with marketers began in October 2025 with an offtake volume of 600 million litres of PMS. This was increased to 900 million litres in November and further expanded to 1.5 billion litres in December.
The refinery said that following downstream market liberalisation, PMS supply was opened to all qualified marketers, bulk consumers, and filling station operators.
According to the statement signed by the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, the refinery has consistently loaded between 31 million and 48 million litres of PMS daily since December 16, 2025, depending on market demand.
“These figures are verifiable against depot and loading records maintained under routine regulatory oversight,” the statement said.
As competition intensifies and prices continue to fall, industry analysts say Nigeria’s downstream market is undergoing one of its most dramatic transformations in decades, with consumers emerging as the immediate winners of an increasingly fierce petrol price war.