Nigeria’s Dangote Petroleum Refinery, owned by Aliko Dangote, resumed domestic petrol sales in naira on Wednesday, 22 July 2026, after ending a week-long dollar pricing regime, while increasing its ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit to ₦1,215 per litre from ₦1,075 per litre.

The move, announced from the refinery’s commercial operations in Lagos, follows consultations between the Federal Government and industry stakeholders over the future of the naira-for-crude arrangement.

Also read: Marketers halt fuel loading as FG, Dangote hold talks

The revised pricing represents a ₦140 per litre increase, or 13.02 per cent, and took immediate effect for all pending gantry orders.

Customers were informed that previously unloaded volumes would be repriced under the new template before loading resumed.

In a notice circulated to marketers, the refinery stated: “Please be advised that all unloaded gantry volumes will be subject to repricing at the new price, which is effective 22nd July 2026. Kindly proceed with placing your order.”

The return to naira transactions brings an end to a policy introduced on 13 July, when the refinery switched to dollar-denominated pricing after citing mounting pressure from sourcing crude oil in foreign currency.

Under that arrangement, petrol was priced at $0.779 per litre, with diesel at $1.087 and aviation fuel at $0.942 per litre.

The company argued that it was increasingly purchasing crude in US dollars while selling refined products domestically in naira, exposing it to significant foreign exchange losses.

The policy quickly unsettled Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market. Independent marketers suspended purchases from the refinery because many operators struggled to access sufficient foreign exchange, while private depot prices climbed sharply as available supply tightened.

Analysts warned that maintaining dollar-denominated domestic sales could substantially increase demand for foreign currency and place additional pressure on the naira.

The refinery’s latest decision follows government intervention and continuing discussions over the naira-for-crude programme, introduced in October 2024 to allow domestic refiners to buy crude oil in naira rather than dollars.

The initiative was designed to ease pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange market while strengthening local refining capacity.

The Dangote Petrol Price Increase nevertheless means consumers may still face higher retail prices.

Industry data indicated that petrol was already selling for around ₦1,300 per litre in parts of Lagos and other cities as global oil prices climbed towards $94 per barrel amid renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited recently maintained that it had supplied all crude cargoes allocated under the government’s naira-for-crude framework.

However, Dangote Group officials said the refinery had received only about four million barrels of crude each month, well below the estimated 13 million barrels required to operate efficiently under the arrangement.

A senior regulatory official previously defended the refinery’s temporary dollar pricing policy, saying: “The naira-for-crude deal is not to Dangote’s advantage right now because the company is sourcing crude in dollars. He has absorbed a lot. But maybe he has got to a breaking point.”

The resumption of naira sales is expected to restore smoother product evacuation from the refinery and ease the distribution bottlenecks experienced during the suspension.

However, market participants believe the latest price adjustment could still ripple through the supply chain unless global crude prices soften or stronger competition among suppliers limits further increases.

Also read: Marketers halt fuel loading as FG, Dangote hold talks

The development underscores the delicate balance between ensuring commercial sustainability for Africa’s largest refinery and protecting Nigerian consumers from further fuel cost pressures.