‘Petrol will start selling at ₦739/litre on Tuesday’: Dangote declares, vows to crash it more

The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has declared that the ₦739 per litre petrol price will be strictly enforced from Tuesday, beginning with MRS Oil and Gas filling stations.

Naija News reports that Dangote gave the assurance on Sunday during a press briefing at the Lekki-based Dangote Petroleum Refinery, stressing that the company would ensure Nigerians feel the impact of the recent reduction in petrol prices.

“Starting from Tuesday, MRS will start selling petrol at ₦739/litre. Definitely, we will enforce that low price. We will make sure that it’s implemented. If you have your truck, you can come here and buy it. We are selling at ₦699. The ₦699 includes the percentage of NMDPRA. So what actually comes out to us is about ₦389 or so,” he said.

MRS, Others To Sell At ₦739

It was also gathered that barring any last-minute change, MRS Oil and Gas and other partners of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery are set to begin the sale of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, at ₦739 per litre.

The development comes two days after the refinery reduced its petrol gantry price from ₦828 to ₦699 per litre.

Dangote noted that despite reductions at the gantry, some filling stations often keep pump prices high, thereby frustrating efforts to make fuel cheaper for Nigerians.

The businessman alleged that some officials had met with certain marketers and encouraged them to maintain high pump prices to undermine the price reduction.

“I was told that the marketers have met with (some officials) and were told to make sure that the price is maintained high. But this price we are going to introduce, we are going to start with MRS stations most likely on Tuesday in Lagos; that ₦970 per litre, you won’t see it again. We have also asked members of IPMAN to come now,” he said.

Dangote added, “We have asked anybody who can buy 10 trucks to come and buy 10 trucks at ₦699.”

The richest African also added that the refinery would deploy all available resources to ensure petrol prices are brought down across the country.

“We are going to use whatever resources that we have to make sure that we crash the price down. We will get these sales; maybe it will take us a week to 10 days. But first of all, within a week to 10 days, we will be able to deliver,” he said.

He insisted that Nigerians should not pay more than ₦740 per litre for petrol in December and January.

“For this December and January, we don’t want people to sell petrol for more than ₦740 nationwide. Those who want to keep the price to sabotage the government, we will fight as much as we can to make sure that these prices are down. That’s not the price. If you have money to come and buy, you can pick up petrol at ₦699,” Dangote stated.

Dangote questioned the justification for pump prices rising to as high as ₦900 per litre, noting that transporting petrol from the refinery costs no more than ₦15 per litre.

“Freight within Lagos is ₦10 or ₦15, maximum. So if it’s ₦10 to ₦15, everything is going to cost you ₦715. Why do you want to sell at ₦900? People should get the real price,” he queried.

He stressed that the refinery was not making profits at the current pricing level.

“I cannot come now and take the hit. Did we make money? No, we didn’t make money. But as we speak now, even our tanks are full because the NMDPRA has issued reckless licences. And we have to now go and complain to the government,” he said.

Dangote also accused the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority of issuing 47 import licences to bring in over seven billion litres of petrol in the first quarter of 2026, a move he said was hurting local investments.

“They normally issue licences in the middle of the month. So, they are now ready to issue licences for about 7.5 billion litres for the first quarter of 2026, despite the fact that we have guaranteed to supply enough quantity,” he said.

Speaking on the allegations of monopoly, the businessman declared that no one was stopped from investing in local refining.

“If you are talking about monopoly, did we stop anybody? They issued 47 licences. Let those people come and put up a refinery here, or let them go and buy even NNPC’s and operate them. If it’s profitable, they should go and do that now. NNPC was the only business that was bringing in fuel before,” he added.

Dangote further lamented the condition of modular refineries in the country, saying most of them were struggling to survive.

“Now, we are the only one and one of the few modular refineries that are producing. Those modular refineries, I can tell you for nothing that they are almost on the verge of collapse. None of them is making a dime,” he said.

Recently, there has been a price war between Dangote refinery and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), a development some stakeholders declared as good for the oil industry.