The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited (NNPCL), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, on Sunday, assured that the ongoing price competition in the downstream petroleum sector would ultimately benefit consumers.
He described current market tensions as a natural consequence of the country’s transition from total import dependence to domestic refining.
‘Where there is healthy competition, the buyers are the ultimate beneficiaries. And I think for us, we need to keep our minds that the market will stabilise.
‘After a while, there’ll be some tension, because we’re going through a major transition’, Ojulari told journalists after briefing President Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
‘At the end of the day, I can tell you that Nigerians on the street are going to be the beneficiaries’, Ojulari declared.
Clarifying NNPCL’s role in the deregulated market, Ojulari emphasised that the company is no longer responsible for petroleum product pricing or regulation under the Petroleum Industry Act.
‘The first thing you have to know is that the PIA (Petroleum Industry Act) 2021 did something fundamental. Before the PIA in 2021, which rolled in 2022, everything was under NNPC, including some regulations. The PIA divided the roles of regulation from what I will call the business’, he explained.
Ojulari added: ‘The NMDPRA (Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority) is responsible for all downstream regulation and midstream, as you know, and the NUPRC (Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission) is responsible for all upstream regulations.
‘So it’s very important that Nigerians understand that post-PIA, we as NNPC are not regulators’.
He stressed that NNPCL has been instituted by the PIA to become ‘a commercial company, which means a company that needs to compete profitably and be successful profitably’.
Ojulari disclosed that NNPCL no longer receives federation allocations and must raise finance independently ‘like any other business’.
Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector has been gripped by fierce competition since September 2024, when Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest single-train refinery with 650,000 barrels per day capacity, began producing petrol locally.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the average retail price of Premium Motor Spirit fell by N153 per litre between November 2024 and November 2025—from N1,214.17 to N1,061.35, driven by supply improvements and stronger competition.
The price war intensified dramatically in December 2025 when Dangote slashed its ex-depot price from N970 to N699 per litre, forcing other players to follow suit or risk losing market share.
MRS filling stations, Dangote’s retail partner, began selling at N739 per litre nationwide, while NNPC retail outlets dropped prices from N875 to between N825 and N840 per litre depending on location. Independent marketers followed, with some selling as low as N865 per litre.
Data from Petroleumprice.ng showed that Dangote Refinery made over 20 price adjustments in 2025 alone.
The rapid price reductions created significant challenges for petroleum marketers who purchased products at higher prices and now must sell at a loss or lose customers entirely.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN) confirmed that ‘price competition now determines customer loyalty’, with its spokesperson, Mr. Chinedu Ukadike, noting that ‘any marketer unwilling to adjust prices risks losing patronage and facing mounting bank interest costs’.
Ojulari described NNPCL as ‘the supplier of last resort, working closely with all key downstream players, including Dangote Refinery, in which we have an interest’, to ensure product availability.
‘For us as NNPC, our focus is to generate more production. As we generate more production, we believe there’ll be more production to feed the refineries as much as possible.
‘We also believe the additional production will create more flexibility in terms of ability for downstream players to be able to participate effectively’, he stated.
Ojulari acknowledged that having major refineries like Dangote and NNPCL’s rehabilitated facilities operating simultaneously has disrupted market equilibrium.
He further said: ‘To be honest with you, by the time you have a refinery like Dangote in-country, which has not been there before, with NNPC refinery now under a major relook, such a huge refinery in the country, you can expect the market will be impacted right now.
‘All we need to do together is to walk through that reality.
‘Reality is a great thing to have a major refinery in Nigeria, supplying West Africa and other parts of the world.
‘The question now is, how do we then ensure that the market forces stabilise so that everyone can be okay’.
He emphasised that NNPCL would ‘let the NMDPRA manage the issue of competitiveness,” noting that “competitiveness is not easy, and I think in these early stages, we are seeing a lot of tension with willing buyer, willing market’.
Before Dangote’s entry, Nigeria’s petroleum sector was characterised by near-total import dependence despite being Africa’s largest oil producer.
NNPCL held a virtual monopoly on imports and distribution under a heavily subsidised regime.
The removal of fuel subsidies by President Tinubu in May 2023 led to pump prices skyrocketing from around N195 per litre to over N1,030 per litre by October 2024, worsening economic challenges for Nigerians facing inflation exceeding 30 per cent.
The Federal Government attempted to restart the Port Harcourt refinery in November 2024, but imports remained essential until Dangote’s production ramped up significantly in late 2024 and early 2025.
Ojulari said he briefed President Tinubu on NNPCL’s production achievements in 2025, revealing that oil production has risen from 1.5 million barrels per day last year to over 1.7 million barrels per day currently.
‘Some of those are underpinned by very structural changes within the organisation’, he explained.
Gas production also increased from 6.5 billion standard cubic feet to over 7 billion standard cubic feet daily.
Ojulari also disclosed that NNPCL has successfully completed welding of the main line of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline, including crossing the River Niger.
‘You remember sometimes in summer, we were able to cross the River Niger, which has been a struggle for many years.
‘By completing this main line, what that means now is that we can begin to connect, make all the connections to the main line, which we will do in the earlier parts of next year’, he said.
The 614-kilometre AKK pipeline will bring gas to northern Nigeria for industrialisation, fertiliser plants and power generation when commissioned in early 2026.
‘We believe that we are in a good state to be able to commence the implementation’, Ojulari stated.
Source: Sunday PUNCH
