Dangote refinery’s consortium marketers has dropped gantry prices of premium motor spirit by N25 to N1,215 per litre, down from N1,240 following a downward adjustment in the refinery-linked wholesale market.
The latest reduction represents a 2 percent drop and comes as the refinery reorganises its direct petrol distribution network, reducing the number of participating marketers to 25 from the previous 37.
The revised consortium includes Techno Oil, Pivot, Integrated Energy, Soroman, Nipco, MRS, Ardova, Bovas, Optima, Nepal Energies, Mainland, NNPC, A.A. Rano, Rainoil, Pinnacle, AYM Shafa, Heyden, Eterna and Total, among others.
The refinery’s decision to reduce the number of participating marketers follows concerns over the pricing activities of some members of the previous consortium, according to energy research firm, Petroleumprice.
Recent reduction follows earlier adjustments in Dangote’s ex-gantry petrol pricing, which have increasingly shaped wholesale prices across Nigeria’s downstream market.
However, as prices of Brent, Nigeria’s benchmark crude oil, has dropped below $100 per barrel, industry players expect some level of relief in the downstream market.
The N1,215 per litre price will be the current rate at which consortium marketers offer petrol at the gantry, rather than the price motorists and consumers will pay at retail filling stations.
Petrol prices at the pump will depend on transportation costs, distribution expenses, and marketers’ margins.
The latest adjustment could offer relief on depot and retail prices if the reduction is passed through the distribution chain.