Importers have dropped petrol prices below the price offered by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, sparking a new wave of competition. This comes amid a call by the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, for the Federal Government to ban fuel importation.

Findings by our correspondent showed that some filling stations now sell petrol below N860 per litre, while Dangote partners, such as MRS, Heyden, and others, sell at N865 or N875 in Lagos and Ogun States.

A filling station named SGR in Ogun State reduced its price to N847 per litre as of Tuesday. Marketers confirmed to The PUNCH that most importers have reduced their ex-depot petrol prices below that of the Dangote refinery.

As of Tuesday, it was learnt that Dangote refinery was selling petrol at N820 per litre while some depots sold the product at N815 per litre. According to Petroleumprice.ng, Aiteo, Menj and others put their prices at N815/litre as of Tuesday.

Our correspondent learnt that the importers were making efforts to remain in business through competitive pricing. Many had previously complained of recording losses when the 650,000-barrels-per-day capacity Dangote refinery began implementing constant price cuts earlier this year.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, confirmed the ongoing downward price review by the importers.

“Depot owners are dropping their petrol prices. Some of them are selling N815, some are selling N817, while Dangote is selling N820. NNPC is still selling at N825; it has not dropped its prices yet,” Ukadike disclosed.

He described this as the beauty of market liberalisation, saying President Bola Tinubu should not heed calls to ban fuel importation.

“This is the beauty of the liberalisation of the market. That is why we opined that the President should not ban anybody from importing petroleum products. Nobody should be stopped from bringing in petroleum products. That is the beauty of opening up the market. Implementation and local refining will checkmate unfair pricing. As an indigenous country, you must refine to ensure that you have the best price,” Ukadike said.

On claims that toxic and substandard fuels are being imported into the country, the IPMAN spokesman said the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority is in place to check substandard fuels.