The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reduced its petrol gantry price from N828 ($0.57) to N699 ($0.48) per litre ahead of the festive season, a senior official of the company reveals.
The adjustment, effective from yesterday, 11 December 2025, represents a reduction of approximately 15.58%, according to real-time market data published on Friday.
An official at the refinery, who confirmed the development, said that the recent price cut marks the 20th price adjustment by the refinery within the current year.
“Prices are going down. The reason why prices have to go down is that we have to also compete with imports,” Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, said earlier this month after a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
He added that while smuggling has declined, it remains a challenge, noting that petrol in Nigeria is “about 55 per cent lower than the price of our neighbouring countries.”
This represents one of the refinery’s sharpest reductions yet, signaling renewed efforts to ease pressure on Nigeria’s struggling economy and reduce the burden of rising fuel costs on households and businesses.
According to refinery sources, the price cut is aimed at driving market stability, encouraging wider distribution, and helping reduce the country’s reliance on imported petrol.
While the new N699 ex-depot price reflects the cost at which marketers buy directly from the refinery, it is expected to lead to a reduction in the pump prices of the fuel.
This ultimately influences the cost of transportation, food stuff, and essential services.
Why the price reduction
The refinery has framed this latest cut as both an economic measure and a social initiative. With interstate travel expected to rise sharply before
Senior officials have indicated that the refinery introduced this price cut to assist in reducing transportation expenses ahead of the Christmas period, when millions of Nigerians travel across states to reunite with family.
The company explained that this pricing adjustment demonstrates their, “commitment to make the season memorable for citizens and reduce cost pressures on road transport operators.”
“This is part of our contributions to ensure Nigerians enjoy the Christmas and the New Year celebrations. It is our desire to enhance the movement of Nigerians from one part of the nation to another at minimum costs,” a source at the Dangote refinery who pleaded anonymity said.
The move has economic implications. A lower petrol base price may help reduce inflationary pressure.
This will strengthen Dangote’s position in the downstream market, potentially pushing other suppliers to adjust prices to stay competitive.
“We are not here to make our $20 billion back quickly; it’s a long-term investment,” Dangote said, disputing claims that his company was leveraging deep price cuts to recoup back funds spent on building Africa’s biggest refinery plant.
The Nigerian government is set to introduce a 15% tariff on the importation of petrol and diesel next year to protect local refineries like Dangote, although the plan has raised the question of fair competition in the country’s downstream market.
Public reaction
According to industry insiders, the refinery’s successive price changes—culminating in today’s significant cut—signal the definitive collapse of the former marketers’ consortium model, which once managed coordinated bulk purchasing.
As the refinery expands its nationwide distribution channels, individual marketers can now deal directly, allowing for quicker pricing responses and greater market reach.
Christmas and New Year celebrations, the reduced gantry price should lead to lower retail fuel prices in various states, particularly in the North and South-East regions, where logistics expenses often surge during holidays.
Social media has been buzzing with mixed reactions — from optimism about potential relief at filling stations to cautious reminders that pump prices often take time to adjust.
For many Nigerians, however, the drop to N699 marks a rare moment of relief amid rising economic hardship.
Officials from the refinery hint that further adjustments are possible as the mega refiner increases output in preparation for its upcoming expansion phase.
Data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) reveals that the Dangote Refinery has at no point met 50% of the country’s petrol demand despite earlier projections of rising output.
The regulator says the refinery only supplied an average of 18 million litres per day during the nine-month period, amounting to just about 36% of national demand.
