Imported Petrol Costlier Than Local Supply, IPMAN Warns

…Urges NMDPRA to review import licences …Naira weakness pushes landing cost to N1,190.96 — MEMAN

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has warned that recent import licences granted for petrol are making fuel more expensive and harming the naira.

The association called on the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to review the licences  and protect local refining.

This comes as the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) said landing cost of petrol rose to N1,190.96 per litre as of July 16.

MEMAN, in its Energy Bulletin and Ex-Depot Prices, Stock Market & Regional Pump Prices report, Thursday, July 16, 2026, disclosed that the average seven-day landing cost of petrol was N1,155.45 per litre and the 30-day average was N1,070.66 per litre — showing a sharp recent increase in landing costs.

“The gap between the 30-day average and the current spot price — roughly N120 per litre — underlines how quickly landed costs have moved,” MEMAN said in its analysis, noting the naira’s mid-July weakening fed directly into those increases.

MEMAN attributed the increase in petrol landing cost to the weakening of the Naira,

MEMAN’s seven-day tracker showed the naira averaging N1,380.51 to the dollar, having opened the period near N1,378 on July 8 before weakening steadily to a peak of roughly N1,384 around July 14 and settling at approximately N1,382 by July 16.

The slide came as international crude benchmarks climbed over the same window: Brent crude averaged $81.08 per barrel for the week, rallying from a low near $75 early in the period to touch nearly $84 per barrel by mid-July.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) averaged $76.58 per barrel, tracking a similar path toward $80 per barrel, while Nigeria’s own Bonny Light benchmark held comparatively steady at an average of $71.63 per barrel.

The major marketers said the combination of a weaker local currency and firmer global crude proved decisive for imported fuel costs.

Meanwhile, the national publicity secretary of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, speaking while reacting to the current state of the downstream petroleum sector in Nigeria, said independent marketers had studied the situation closely, including price volatility, the import licence regime, and the sale of petroleum products in dollars. He urged the federal government to look into the matter transparently through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which he described as the authority regulating the industry.

According to him, the recent import licences, which were meant to serve as a check on domestically refined petroleum products, are not achieving the results expected by independent marketers.

He said marketers were shocked that some of the companies granted import licences were pegging their prices at around N1,350 per litre, a figure he said was far higher than what the Dangote Refinery sells to marketers.

Ukadike questioned the rationale behind the licences, noting that if the goal of the NMDPRA and the federal government was to checkmate the domestic price of petroleum products, then bringing in imported products of questionable quality and higher prices defeated that purpose.

“What is the essence of issuing this price? This will create a lot of tension in society,” he said, adding that the price volatility was deepening and directly affecting independent marketers, who now do not know which way to turn.

He further explained that landing costs for imported petroleum products were about 20 percent higher than what Dangote refinery charges, which, in his view, makes the import arrangement counterproductive. He argued that importing fuel at a higher cost than what is locally available puts unnecessary pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves and the naira.

Ukadike linked this pressure to the recent rise of the dollar to about N1,400, which he said was, in turn, affecting the pump price of petroleum products across the country.

He called on the Federal Government to sit down with the presidential committee on the downstream sector to look into the challenges facing Dangote Refinery and to ensure the refinery continues to receive support to produce enough petroleum products for the country, in naira.

He noted that the one major gain Nigeria had recorded from local refining was a continuous and uninterrupted supply of petroleum products, something the country struggled with in the past when it depended heavily on imports.

“If we are having continuous and uninterrupted supply, our problem is pricing. Is it not better we sit down and see how this issue can be controlled, than signing unnecessary import licences that will further inflate the price of petroleum products in our country?” he asked.

Ukadike called for stronger support for local refining capacity, including government-owned refineries, alongside Dangote Refinery, describing this as necessary for the country’s energy security. He said Nigeria should prioritise its own refining capacity rather than depending on imports.

“Nigerians are suffering. This is a time to call for national unity, a time to call for one Nigeria, a time to call for support for our industrialists and our refiners,” he said.

He added that Nigeria could also explore the export of finished petroleum products as an additional source of foreign exchange, once local supply is sufficient for domestic consumption.

Ukadike recalled the difficulties of the era when Nigeria depended solely on imported petroleum products, noting that the country sometimes experienced fuel scarcity for two to three weeks at a stretch. He said that since local refining by Dangote began, such scarcity has become a thing of the past.

He therefore urged the Federal Government to look inward and support the domestic refining of petroleum products, in order to guarantee energy security, sufficient local supply, and additional foreign exchange earnings for the country through exports.