Dangote Petroleum Refinery lowered its diesel gantry price by 80 naira per litre to 1,700 naira from 1,780 naira, a cut of about 4.5%, as international crude prices softened and import costs declined, according to a customer notice reported by Nigerian media.
The new rate took effect on Wednesday. It is the second reduction in under a week. On Oct. 1, the refinery cut the price by 70 naira from 1,850 naira, so the combined fall since then is 150 naira per litre, or roughly 8.1%.
Brent crude dipped to about $98 a barrel on Tuesday before recovering to near $100, while U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded below $90. Oil markets have been unsettled by supply worries tied to the Middle East conflict and by efforts among major producers and consumers to keep supply adequate.
Data from the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) showed the estimated spot landing cost of imported diesel fell by 127.28 naira in two days, to 1,696.40 naira per litre on Oct. 2 from 1,823.68 naira on Sept. 30. The refinery’s new price sits only 3.60 naira above that figure. A separate MEMAN estimate for Oct. 5 put landing costs at between 1,775 and 1,785 naira, which would leave the new price below import parity.
MEMAN’s Oct. 2 bulletin gave a seven-day average of $103.89 a barrel for Brent, $91.98 for WTI and $121.08 for Nigeria’s Bonny Light grade.
The refinery said it would communicate separately the credit owed on gantry volumes already unloaded and affected by the reduction. Some Lagos depots were still selling diesel above Dangote’s earlier rate after the Oct. 1 cut, at between 1,795 and 1,890 naira per litre.
Dangote did not give an explanation beyond the notice to customers, and the figures are drawn from media reports and industry data.
