From Victor Osula, Abuja
Nigerians may experience an increase in the price of premium motor spirit (petrol) as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, temporarily halts the sale of petrol in Naira, citing the exhaustion of its crude-for-naira allocation.
A notice sent to its customers, sighted by THISAGE, the Lagos-based refinery with a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, said the suspension of sales of its petrol in Naira. Would take effect on Sunday, September 28, 2025.
Signed by the Group Commercial Operations, the refinery advised customers with ongoing naira-based transactions to request refunds.
Titled ‘Suspension of DPRP PMS Naira Sales – Effective 28th September 2025’, the notice read in part, “We write to inform you that Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals has been selling petroleum products in excess of our Naira-Crude allocations and, consequently, we are unable to sustain PMS sales in Naira going forward.
“Kindly note that this suspension of Naira sales for PMS will be effective from Sunday, 28th of September, 2025. We will provide further updates regarding the resumption of supply once the situation has been resolved.
“All customers with PMS transactions in Naira who would like a refund of their current payments should formally request the processing of their refund.”
As part of moves to reduce the strain on the US dollars, and guarantee price stability of petroleum products, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024, directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in naira and not in United States’ greenback.
However, Nigeria’s public refineries remain trapped in a cycle of dormancy and inefficiency. In May 2025, the NNPC announced that it had shut down the old Port Harcourt Refinery in Eleme, Rivers State, for another round of maintenance.
The Warri Refinery, which has a capacity of 125,000 bpd, faced a similar fate. After a brief resumption of operations in December 2024, it shut down again within a month.
