Petrol prices are expected to crash to about N300 per litre when mass production by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other refineries begins production.
Refinery owners, under the aegis of the Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) explained that providing enough crude oil to local refiners would crash the price of petrol, stating that foreign refineries were cheating Nigeria.
CORAN stated that, like diesel prices, which sold for N1,700 before Dangote began production but later crashed to N1,200, the cost of petrol will crash when mass production begins.
Recall that Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, In May 2024, stated that following the laid-down plans of the Dangote refinery, Nigeria would no longer need to import petrol starting June this year.
Dangote had also stated that his refinery could meet West Africa’s petrol and diesel needs, as well as the continent’s aviation fuel demand. He spoke at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, expressing optimism about transforming Africa’s energy landscape.
“Right now, Nigeria has no cause to import anything apart from gasoline (petrol) and by sometime in June, within the next four or five weeks, Nigeria shouldn’t import anything like gasoline; not one drop of a litre,” the billionaire had declared.
Also, Dangote had earlier in the year crashed the pump price of diesel to N1,200/litre when the commodity was selling at between N1,700 and N1,800/litre at the time.
He further dropped the price to below N1,000/litre, but could not sustain this price due to the rise in exchange rate. The refinery eventually returned the price to the initial rate of N1,200/litre.
