The Dangote Petroleum Refinery on Wednesday reduced its ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, by N1 per litre, while diesel prices rose across several petroleum depots in Lagos, reflecting mixed movements in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market.
The refinery lowered its petrol loading price to N1,075 per litre from N1,076 per litre. MRS Oil Nigeria also reduced its depot price by N2 per litre to N1,074 from N1,076, making it one of the lowest-priced suppliers in the Lagos market.
Most other major marketers, including NIPCO, Sahara Energy, Aiteo and African Terminal, retained their existing petrol prices, indicating relative stability in the wholesale petrol market despite growing competition among suppliers. Depot prices for petrol in Lagos remained within a narrow range of N1,074 to N1,075 per litre.
Diesel prices, however, recorded increases across several Lagos depots. African Terminal raised its Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) price from N1,410 to N1,450 per litre, while Duport, Ibachem, Ibeto and T-Time also increased their prices by N40 per litre to N1,450.
In Port Harcourt, the trend differed as Matrix Depot reduced its diesel price by N50 per litre from N1,550 to N1,500, while Sigmund lowered its price by N3 to N1,460 per litre from N1,463. Matrix maintained its petrol price at N1,100 per litre.
In Warri, competition among marketers led to slight reductions in petrol prices. Nepal and Optima each cut their prices by N2 per litre to N1,083, while Parker reduced its price by N1 to N1,084. Matrix, Rain Oil, Prudent and A.Y.M Shafa maintained their petrol prices at N1,085 per litre.
On the diesel side in Warri, Prudent increased its price by N70 per litre from N1,480 to N1,550, while A.Y.M Shafa retained its diesel price at N1,435 per litre.
In Calabar, Soroman maintained its petrol price at N1,100 per litre, while Fynfield raised its diesel price by N30 per litre from N1,450 to N1,480.
Meanwhile, global crude oil prices rose sharply on Wednesday, raising concerns that domestic petroleum product prices could increase if the trend persists.
International benchmark Brent crude gained $5.43, or 7.32 per cent, to trade at $79.59 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by $4.78, or 6.79 per cent, to $75.22 per barrel.
The rise in crude prices was driven by heightened geopolitical tensions and expectations of tighter global oil supply, factors that could increase the cost of refined petroleum products if sustained.