Dangote increases price of diesel to N1100 per litre

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has increased the price of Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel from N940/litre to N1,100/litre due to the crash of the naira against the United States dollar.

Recall, Intel Region reported that the Dangote refinery had reduced the product’s price from N1,200 per litre to N1,000, following marketers’ calls for a price slash.

On April 24, 2024, the refinery crashed the diesel and aviation fuel prices to N40 per litre and N980, respectively.

After a week, the $20 billion facility again announced another price crash for diesel but with a caveat that the changes only applied to dealers buying up to five million litres and above.

However, on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, diesel costs from the facility rose from N940 per litre to N1,100. 

Some other dealers who purchased lesser volumes said they got the product at N1,200/litre.

Oil marketers who spoke to The PUNCH said that the hike in diesel price by the $22bn worth refinery located in Epe, Lagos, was due to the recent southward movement of the naira against the dollar.

“The refinery had earlier reduced the price of its diesel to around N940/litre, but it later increased it up to N1,100/litre. This happened recently, maybe about two weeks ago,” the National President, of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Maigandi, stated.

Providing a reason for this, Maigandi said that it “is because of the rising exchange rate, according to what the refinery told us.”

Although officials of the refinery stayed mute when contacted on the matter, industry sources and some major marketers confirmed the development.

“The recent crash of the naira against the dollar is pushing up the cost of commodities and, understandably, the price of diesel from Dangote refinery is being affected,” the National Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, stated.

He explained that the Dangote refinery imports crude oil, stressing that crude is priced in dollars.

“So the recent rise in the foreign exchange rate is going to have an impact on the prices of refined products from the plant,” Ukadike stated.