While millions of Nigerians may breathe a small sigh of relief at the pump, independent petrol marketers are feeling the pinch as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) slashed its pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to N880 per litre in Lagos and N935 in Abuja.
The reduction, coming just days after the Dangote Refinery cut its ex-depot price from N865 to N835, signals an intensifying price war between the state-owned oil giant and Africa’s largest refinery.
But beneath the surface of this apparent consumer-friendly shift lies a deeper economic strain on fuel distributors already battling instability in supply and foreign exchange.
“We are losing money. That’s just the truth. That’s the bitter truth,” said Hammed Fashola, National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
According to Fashola, while NNPC’s reduction is a welcome development for consumers, it is causing serious losses for independent marketers who purchased stock at higher rates and are now forced to sell below cost.
Some NNPC retail stations in Lagos and Abuja had previously sold at N910–N925 per litre, while counterparts in Kano sold for as high as N950. With the latest adjustments, these outlets were instructed to drop prices, though stations with older stock have been permitted to exhaust supply at the former rates.
Marketers say they are left to scramble and balance books, cutting prices on existing inventory just to remain in business. The domino effect of Dangote’s price directives—now being undercut by NNPC by as much as N10–N15 per litre—has compounded their woes.
“The price cuts are good for the people, but marketers are the ones paying the price,” Fashola noted.
He admitted there’s little room for prediction in a volatile market influenced by fluctuating crude prices and unstable exchange rates. A further drop in global oil prices might help bring petrol closer to N800 per litre, but it could also hurt government revenues and deepen inflationary pressures.
Meanwhile, industry watchers observe that the ongoing price reductions have little to do with policy clarity and more with competitive pressure and fiscal maneuvering. Some link the timing to the federal government’s push to sustain the controversial naira-for-crude deal—a measure reportedly extended indefinitely.
As prices fall, Nigerians might celebrate—but for independent marketers, it’s another chapter in an increasingly precarious business environment where they must absorb the shocks of a deregulated system without protection or compensation.