Petrol consumption nationwide has fallen by 28 per cent over the past two years, as pump attendants across filling stations are left with scanty vehicular calls.

Latest figures from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) show that the daily volume of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, dropped from 68.353 million litres in June 2023, when fuel subsidy was removed, to 49.277 million litres in June 2025.

President Bola Tinubu had, in his May 29, 2023 inauguration address, declared “subsidy is gone,” ending decades of subsidy payments that had cost the government tens of trillions of naira.

Following the announcement, NNPC Limited raised the pump price from N195 per litre to N448 in Lagos and from N197 to N557 in Abuja. Less than a month later, prices rose again to N617 per litre.

Since then and with the coming on stream of the Dangote Refinery, marketers have reviewed prices a multiple times, in some cases weekly.

Checks by Financial Vanguard last weekend showed that fuel stations across major cities in Nigeria have just effected another round of adjustment.

Pump attendants idle away

However, despite conspicuous display of the prices, a large number of consumers no longer bother with the price as they make purchase decisions before getting to the fuel station and their decisions are always based on availability of money and considerations for competing needs in their lives.

This, according to attendants in many fuel stations, may have caused low patronage and dwindling vehicle presence at the fuel stations, causing rise in idle time at the stations.

Station Manager at RYBL Services Limited in Karshi, Abuja, Ibrahim Gambo, told Vanguard that it now takes about two months to sell a single 30,000-litre tanker due to poor patronage.

“The market is not moving well. We used to have three pump attendants, but now we keep only one. We cannot pay salaries for three because sales are too low.

“Before, people came with jerry cans, but now you hardly see that. Many only buy when they have important and compelling need to drive. Also, people are now using generators at home sparingly,” he lamented.

In filling stations visited in some parts of Lagos, including Amuwo-Odofin, Apapa, Ajegunle and Orile, independent marketers lamented that sales have dropped significantly.

An attendant at Techno Oil at Alaba Oro, told Vanguard that “within the last two weeks, the price of petrol increased by N50 and dropped N20 few days ago. But one cannot say the business is all that lucrative at the moment.

“This is because, prior to deregulation, we had a lot of demand from customers to fill up when cars come to purchase fuel, but the reverse is the case now. Most times, our turnover is very low compared to what was obtainable in the past.”

The situation, however, appeared to be different at retail outlets such as MRS and Fatgbems at Amuwo, Oshodi/Apapa expressway, and Mile 2 road, respectively which had long queues of cars trying to buy petrol.

MRS is one the retail partners to the Dangote Refinery and sells petrol at about the lowest price in the country.

Checks showed that pump price at MRS has dropped to N865 per litre, compared to N870 to N890 at other stations.

At the MRS station, an attendant who identified herself simply as Chinenye, said: “We are very grateful for the number of customers and the turnover we are getting. I can tell you for certain that things have turned around for us at MRS, against the regulated period of the downstream.”

In Asaba, Delta State, the situation also remained the same at filling stations across the state capital.

Retail outlets visited along Benin-Asaba Road showed a few vehicles being attended to. Vanguard gathered that pump price has also dropped from an average of N950 per litre it sold a week ago, to the current rate of N910 per litre.

In Nasarawa State, checks by Vanguard showed that while most stations operated by independents and major marketers remained largely empty, those operated by MRS, AYM Sharfa and AA Rano had a good number of vehicles, tricycles (Keke) and commercial motor cycles (Okada) in them.

Speaking to Vanguard, AA Rano’s Ado Station Manager, Munir Ibrahim, said the increased number of vehicles compared to other stations was “due to our lower price”.

In Kano, the situation was not different as very few vehicles were seen at filling stations visited by our correspondent. Pump attendants could be seen sitting idle in most of the filing stations.

However, a petrol attendant at Ammasco, Court Road branch, also lamented low patronage of customers, explaining that the low patronage has affected their daily sales.

On his part, A. Y. Maikifi, said sales have dropped drastically due to rise in the pump price of the product.

“You can’t compare sales two years ago with now. We recorded more sales in the past than now. The increase in the price of fuel is the major factor for the low patronage,’’ he said.

While noting that in the past week pump price had dropped from N950 per litre to N900, he expressed the hope that sales would start to pick up if it was sustained for a longer period.

In Kaduna, attendants across the stations visited by Vanguard disclosed that sales had improved slightly compared to recent weeks, as motorists were returning to the pumps. However, they observed that sales volumes remained lower than they were two years ago, largely due to fewer vehicles on the roads and the increasing shift to Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, by some vehicle owners.

CNG demand surges

The gloomy picture at petrol stations contrasts sharply with the growing demand for Compressed Natural Gas, CNG.

Across the FCT, long queues were seen at CNG outlets, where prices range from N230 to N235 per kilogram, far lower than petrol.

At the NNPC CNG retail station in Wuse Zone 2, a Bolt driver, Onyebuchi Okeke, told Vanguard he had already spent an hour on the queue but noted that the waiting was worth it.

“I really don’t mind the time because it is by far cheaper than petrol. I have a 10kg cylinder and it costs just N2,300 to fill. I will work with it for about four hours and make over N10,000. So, I will be here until it’s my turn. I have about half a tank of petrol in my car. It has been there for about two weeks. If there is need to use it, I will,” he stated.

He disclosed that he hardly goes to filling stations to buy, adding that “since I got my car converted to CNG, I don’t go to petrol stations often. It is once in a while.”

Trying time for marketers – IPMAN

Speaking to Vanguard on the situation, the Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, said it was a trying time for independent marketers.

He attributed the drop in petrol consumption to the increase in the price of the product, vehicle conversions to CNG and the general hike in the cost of living in the country.

He also pointed out that the drop in consumers volume could partly be due to reduction in the volumes smuggled across Nigeria’s borders to neighbouring countries due to removal of subsidies in Nigeria.

He said: “The issue of smuggling has dropped drastically. Movement across the borders have dropped because the removal of subsidies means that neighbouring countries which have been benefiting from low prices in Nigeria are no longer able to do so.

“Secondly, many vehicles have been converted to CNG because it is cheaper. I am sure you have noticed the length of queues at the CNG stations. It is far cheaper and makes more economic sense.

“In fact, if the presidential committee on CNG continues to work at the rate they are doing, by this time next year, petrol supply will drop by half of what NMDPRA has declared.

“Thirdly, small scale industries are also converting to gas usage. All these have made the petrol supply business not as lucrative as it used to be.

“The cost in petrol price has also moderated the pocket of Nigerians. Since the removal of subsidies, many car owners have dropped cars and now use commercial vehicles. Also a lot of people now use commercial motor bikes to pick up items or parcels, rather than drive to pick them.”

On the impact of the drop in consumption on their business, Ukadike said: “It is actually a trying time for marketers. The return on investment is now very small. For most, the turnover is not more than one truck per month, for some it is one truck in two months.

“This is why we have been asking government to intervene so that independent marketers do not go out of business. With the way things are going, independent marketers will go into extinction by 2028.”

Frequent price changes unhealthy for sector, expert warns

Speaking on the development, the CEO, AHA Consultancies, Mr. Henry Adigun, observed that price instability in the downstream was unhealthy for the sector.

Adigun said for the sector to attract the needed investment, there had to be more certainty in the downstream sector.

“The downstream market should be driven by competition. The market must be fair, must be seen to be fair, must be well regulated and must provide benefits for consumers. When there is competition in any market, the consumers benefit.

“The Dangote Refinery is a state-of-the-art facility and there is no other in the country that can compete with it. That is why government has continued to allow importation of petrol.

‘’That is the only way to provide competition, for now. Competition ensures that there is no monopoly and price gorging,” he added.

Adigun said the ongoing price war between marketers and Dangote must be tempered and conducted in a manner not detrimental to the industry.

“The frequent changes in price is leading to a lot of losses in the market, and this will affect the capacity of marketers to pay back money loaned secured from banks to purchase the product,” he stated. (Vanguard)

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