The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has introduced a new dollar-based pricing system for refined petroleum products, ending naira payments for product purchases and setting a new benchmark for petrol, diesel and aviation fuel.
Under the new pricing structure, Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, will now sell at an ex-depot price of $0.779 per litre, while diesel is priced at $1.087 per litre and aviation fuel at $0.942 per litre.
The new rates, which took effect on Monday, July 13, 2026, mark a major shift in the refinery’s commercial operations and are expected to influence pricing trends in Nigeria’s deregulated downstream petroleum sector.
The refinery communicated the changes in a notice sent to petroleum marketers and customers, stating that all previously issued naira-denominated Proforma Invoices and Deal Recaps for coastal and gantry transactions were no longer valid.
The notice signed by the refinery’s Group Commercial Operations stated that payments should no longer be made against the previous naira-based documents.
“Following our email on the 9th of July, 2026, regarding the transition from Naira to United States Dollars, please note that all issued Naira Coastal and Gantry PFIs/Deal Recaps are now invalid, and no payments should be made against them,” the notice read.
The refinery also clarified that the transition to dollar transactions would not affect Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) sales.
The new pricing template places coastal petrol supplies at $1,044.62 per metric tonne, while gantry sales of petrol remain at $0.779 per litre.
Industry sources explained that the move was driven by the need to address currency mismatch challenges affecting the refinery’s operations.
According to the sources, while refined products were largely sold domestically in naira, a growing portion of crude oil supplies used for refining had shifted to dollar-based transactions, exposing the company to foreign exchange risks.
One industry official explained that the imbalance between dollar-denominated crude purchases and naira-based product sales had become difficult to sustain amid exchange rate fluctuations and volatility in global crude prices.
“The resulting currency mismatch, combined with volatility in international crude oil prices and continued exchange-rate uncertainty, made it necessary to migrate product sales to dollars,” the source said.
The development comes after the refinery previously adopted naira transactions under the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude initiative, introduced to support local refining, reduce pressure on foreign exchange demand and help stabilise fuel prices.
However, industry stakeholders have recently reported challenges with the implementation of the policy, with more crude supplies reportedly returning to dollar-based arrangements.
The latest move by Dangote Refinery is expected to affect petroleum marketers who rely heavily on the facility for fuel supply across the country.
Although the refinery’s new dollar benchmark will guide marketer purchases, the final pump price paid by consumers will depend on factors such as the prevailing naira-dollar exchange rate, transportation costs, logistics expenses, regulatory charges and marketers’ margins.
With Dangote Refinery now playing a dominant role in Nigeria’s fuel supply chain, industry observers say its pricing decisions will continue to have a major impact on the country’s downstream petroleum market.
