Many filling stations have dropped petrol prices below N900 per litre days after the Dangote Petroleum Refinery slashed the price by N40, The PUNCH reports.

Findings showed that many filling stations in Ogun and Lagos States now sell petrol at rates ranging from N875 to N890 a litre. Though some filling stations still sold the product at N900 or above on Sunday, the majority have adjusted to the new price regime.

MRS Oil, a major distributor of Dangote petroleum products, dropped the pump price of PMS to N885 in Lagos from N925 last week. In the South-West, the price would be N895; N905 in the North-West and North-Central; N915 in the South-South, South-East and North-East.

The PUNCH recalls that the Dangote refinery had reduced the ex-depot petrol price from N880 to N840 per litre last Monday. The spokesman of the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, who confirmed this to our correspondent, stated that the price reduction took effect on June 30.

The refinery raised the price of petrol to N880 from N825 when tension escalated during the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran, raising the price of crude oil to almost $80 per barrel. As peace relatively returned to the Middle East, crude prices crashed again, and the Dangote refinery dropped petrol prices.

However, despite the reduction, marketers had earlier refused to slash their pump prices last week, retaining petrol at prices around N925 to N960, depending on the location. Throughout the week, Dangote partners, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company retail outlets and other filling stations owned by marketers sold petrol at higher prices.

As of Sunday, it was observed that depots have also reduced their gantry prices, some even below Dangote’s price. From N920, most of the depots dropped their ex-depot prices to an average of N840 a litre.

According to Petroleumprice.ng, RainOil, Pinnacle, Matrix, Emadeb, Swift and Wosbab were selling petrol at N840 in Lagos on Sunday. First Royal, Menj, and Aipec dropped prices to N838; Aiteo, N837; A&E, N858; NIPCO, N844; MAO, N839; and Integrated, N839.

While experts said last week that the pump price of PMS should shrink to N890 or less, considering Dangote’s N840 gantry price, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said prices did not go down last week because traders were grappling with old stocks.

“We need to exhaust existing stocks. All existing stocks must be sold out first. That is the right business thing to do because if a retail outlet owner loses N100 per litre, and he has to go back to the market to restock, he won’t be able to do so,” Gillis-Harry stated.

However, our correspondent observed on Sunday that various filling stations adjusted their pump prices over the weekend to align with current realities. This implies that many stations are now getting the product at the new price after exhausting the old stock.

It was noticed that filling stations along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway dispensed premium motor spirit at reduced rates on Sunday compared to last week. As of the time of this report, AP and SGR sold petrol at N880 per litre; As-Sallam, N875; Akiavic, N885; SAO, N890.

However, NIPCO and Satellite dropped their prices to N900 while Rainoil displayed N910 along the highway. Recall that Dangote, NNPC and other major fuel distributors in Nigeria hiked petrol prices less than three weeks ago, blaming this on the rise in crude oil prices in the international market.

The pump prices of petrol hovered between N915 and N955 at the pumps, depending on the location. It was below N900 before the sudden hike. There were reports that the product was sold at N960 and N980 in the far north because of the distance.

However, as crude prices fell below $70 last week, the pump prices of PMS also declined. Crude prices had crashed because Israel and Iran stopped bombing each other, alleviating fears of a supply disruption in the Middle East.

Brent crude was traded around $68 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate at $66 per barrel as of Sunday. That’s down from over $77 for Brent crude and $73 per barrel for WTI, according to Oilprice.com. (PUNCH)