Petroleum marketers cut petrol and diesel prices across major depots on Tuesday as competition intensified in Nigeria’s downstream market.
The price drops in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri and Calabar followed a sharp fall in crude oil prices, with international benchmark Brent crude slipping below the $80-per-barrel mark.
Market data showed Brent crude dropped $4.68, or 5.59%, to $79.09 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate declined $4.79, or 5.96%, to $75.55 per barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Basket recorded the steepest fall among major benchmarks, plunging 10.04% to $79.50 per barrel, while the Indian Basket slipped 5.78% to $88.12 per barrel.
The decline raises fresh concerns over revenues for oil-exporting countries, including Nigeria, should the downward trend continue.
Lagos and Port Harcourt Record Sharp Cuts
The latest Mid-Day Price Report showed that while leading suppliers such as Dangote Petroleum Refinery held their petrol prices steady, several independent depot operators reduced both petrol and diesel rates, a move that could support lower pump prices if it holds.
In Lagos, Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Nigeria’s largest privately owned refinery, kept its ex-depot petrol price at ₦1,215 per litre.
Pinnacle and Nipco maintained their Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) prices at ₦1,215 and ₦1,216 per litre respectively, while Ardova trimmed its price by ₦1 to ₦1,216.
African Terminal and Integrated Depot raised prices marginally by ₦1 each to ₦1,217, while MRS held at ₦1,218 per litre, keeping the Lagos pricing band between ₦1,215 and ₦1,218, a sign of intensifying competition among suppliers.
Diesel, known as Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), was largely stable in Lagos, though Emadeb cut its price by ₦10 to ₦1,620 from ₦1,630, offering modest relief to industrial users and transporters.
Dangote raised its diesel price slightly, by ₦1 to ₦1,651 per litre, while most other depots held prices between ₦1,620 and ₦1,625.
In Port Harcourt, Matrix lowered petrol by ₦2 to ₦1,220 per litre, while Liquid Bulk held steady at the same price.
Bulk Strategic cut its diesel price there by ₦10 to ₦1,665 per litre, and Matrix trimmed its own by ₦5 to ₦1,670.
Warri Has Sharpest Price Cuts
Warri saw the sharpest reductions of the session.
Matrix cut petrol by ₦7 to ₦1,221 per litre, while A.Y.M. Shafa lowered its price by ₦4 to ₦1,223.
Optima and Rain Oil each cut petrol prices by ₦2 to ₦1,225 per litre.
On diesel, Matrix and A.Y.M. Shafa each reduced prices by ₦10, to ₦1,670 and ₦1,665 per litre respectively, while Nipco posted the city’s biggest diesel cut, slashing ₦15 to ₦1,650.
Checks by Vanguard showed that MRS, which sources supplies directly from the Dangote refinery, reduced its price to ₦1,245 per litre from ₦1,280, while other marketers cut their petrol prices to between ₦1,245 and ₦1,250 in Lagos and its environs.
Good news at last. This is giving the economy a little breathing space.