The founder and president/chief executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has reaffirmed that his refinery will continue to reduce petrol prices to ensure competitiveness with importers.
Speaking to State House correspondents after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at Aso Rock on Monday, Dangote disclosed that the refinery’s ongoing price adjustments were part of efforts to make Nigeria’s domestic fuel prices more competitive.
“Prices are going down. The reason why prices have to go down, we have to also compete with imports,” Dangote said. He further explained that Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals remains committed to maintaining price stability, even amid fluctuating global crude oil prices.
On November 6, 2025, the refinery lowered its petrol gantry price from ₦877 to ₦828 per litre, marking a 5.6% reduction. Additionally, its coastal price dropped from ₦854 to ₦806 per litre.
Despite efforts to lower fuel prices, Dangote acknowledged that smuggling continues to be a significant problem. “But luckily for us now, the smuggling has not reduced totally. There is still quite a lot of smuggling because the price we have in Nigeria is about 55 per cent lower than the price of our neighbouring countries,” he said.
He elaborated on the challenges posed by the significant price disparity, with fuel in neighbouring countries selling for nearly ₦1,500 to ₦1,600 per litre compared to Nigeria’s domestic price of about ₦800 per litre.
“So it doesn’t matter how you police the borders, people will still smuggle because there’s so much money to be made,” he added.
Dangote assured Nigerians that petroleum products, including diesel and petrol, would continue to be sold at reasonable prices. He emphasized that the refinery’s goal is not to quickly recover its $20 billion investment, but rather to build a sustainable long-term business.
“We are not here to make our $20 billion back quickly, it’s a long-term investment,” Dangote said.
Speaking about the Naira for Crude policy, Dangote described it as a win-win for Nigeria, praising President Tinubu’s vision and the work of the ministerial committee handling the policy. He noted, however, that one of the challenges faced was securing crude oil from international suppliers.
“Nigeria crude sells at a premium, and so some of the international oil companies are not really ready and willing to sell for us. It’s a teething problem, which I believe will be addressed either in the new budget to the government,” Dangote stated.
He also shared that the refinery has notified the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) of its ability to supply 50 million litres of petrol daily, significantly alleviating Nigeria’s long-standing fuel shortages.
Dangote highlighted that Nigeria has been battling fuel queues since 1972 but that his refinery is helping to eliminate this issue. He also pointed out that for the first time, Nigeria is supplying fuel to Europe and the United States.
“By February, we’ll be able to supply about 15 to 20 million litres more than Nigeria’s consumption. So we still have to export,” he said.
Looking ahead, Dangote revealed plans for future expansion, with an ambitious goal to make the refinery the largest in the world by 2028.
“We are going to beat India’s Reliance. Reliance is 1.25 million barrels per day; we will be at 1.4 million barrels per day. We have already signed the necessary agreements, and we will begin piling for the expansion by January. It will be delivered on time,” he added.
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