Marketers Halt Dangote Fuel Loading Amid Dollar Pricing Dispute

Dangote fuel loading has ground to a near standstill this week, and the reason boils down to one word: dollars. Petroleum marketers say they have paused large-scale loading at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery after the Lekki-based facility moved to price its products in US currency. The refinery denies the claim outright, but the ripple effects are already showing up at filling stations across Nigeria.

Marketers told The PUNCH on Sunday that trucks simply weren’t moving at the refinery gate. Consequently, fears of a possible fuel squeeze have started to spread nationwide. Still, a Dangote Group spokesman pushed back hard, insisting operations never stopped and calling the reports “fake news.”

So what’s really going on? Marketers say they’re holding back because nobody knows what the new pricing template will actually cost them. They’re also waiting to see how much newly imported petroleum products will fetch once they hit the market. In short, uncertainty is doing more damage than the price hike itself.

Why the Dangote Fuel Loading Halt Is Happening

According to Chinedu Ukadike, National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, the logic is straightforward. Marketers currently buy existing tank farm stock for between N1,250 and N1,300. However, nobody wants to gamble on new volumes when the next price point remains a mystery.

“The issue is simple; marketers are not buying because they are trying to look at the market dynamics,” Ukadike explained in a phone interview. He added that fresh crude supplies and newly imported petrol, priced at an estimated N1,350, have only deepened the hesitation. Marketers, therefore, don’t know whether prices will climb or fall after they commit to a purchase, yet they’re still expected to sell at whatever the prevailing rate is.

Importantly, Ukadike noted that distribution hasn’t collapsed entirely. Loading volumes, though, have dropped noticeably. He’s now calling on the Federal Government to step in and settle the pricing template question once and for all.

South-West Marketers Feel the Squeeze First

Meanwhile, IPMAN’s Western Zone chairman, Oyewole Akanni, confirmed similar disruption in Ibadan and beyond. He linked the trouble directly to Dangote’s decision to suspend Premium Motor Spirit loading roughly four days ago. As a result, many marketers have turned to private depots, where prices now range between N1,200 and N1,220 per litre before transportation costs.

Some marketers, Akanni said, paid as much as N1,220 per litre on Friday alone. Consequently, several filling stations have run dry while others sit closed, waiting to see which way prices swing once Dangote resumes normal sales. “Only a few marketers are buying products for now because of the uncertainty,” he said.

Even so, Akanni was careful to calm nerves. “There is no fuel scarcity. Members of the public should not panic,” he stated, though he acknowledged pump prices could rise if the standoff drags on. Notably, he pointed out that Dangote gave marketers no advance warning before halting sales, leaving four truckloads meant for his own stations stranded at the refinery gate.

The Bigger Fight Behind the Dangote Fuel Loading Row

Beneath the loading dispute lies a much larger disagreement between Abuja and the refinery. A senior government official, speaking anonymously, told The PUNCH that Dangote is unhappy about two separate issues. First, the government continues issuing import licences to marketers even though the refinery insists it can meet domestic demand alone. Second, the refinery believes the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited isn’t supplying enough crude, particularly in naira.

“So the facility is saying that if the government cannot increase the crude they are giving to him in naira, the new dollar pricing template is what he will do,” the official explained. Because the refinery operates within a free trade zone, it technically has the legal flexibility to price however it chooses, and it also enjoys certain tax exemptions unavailable to standard operators.

The government, for its part, insists it won’t let a single company dictate downstream policy. If talks fail, officials say Nigeria will simply lean further on imports, a strategy the country followed for over three decades before local refining capacity expanded. Three importers — Matrix Energy Group, AA Rano Nigeria, and AYM Shafa Holdings — have already gone to court seeking an order that would keep import licences flowing regardless of how the Dangote dispute resolves.

Regulator Weighs In on Currency and Pricing

Adding another layer to the story, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has firmly rejected the idea of dollar-denominated fuel sales. Ondaje Ijagwu, the commission’s Director of Corporate Affairs, stated plainly that the naira remains Nigeria’s only lawful currency for domestic transactions.

The FCCPC also raised a separate concern: falling global crude prices haven’t translated into cheaper petrol for everyday Nigerians. Ijagwu referenced the commission’s earlier statement from June 28, noting that pump prices shot up quickly when crude prices rose, yet the reverse hasn’t happened as crude prices dropped. As a result, the government has now convened a stakeholders’ meeting bringing together regulators, refiners, and marketers to address the imbalance.

Ijagwu warned that the FCCPC “will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action” if evidence points to anti-competitive behaviour or consumer exploitation. For now, though, the standoff between Dangote and the Federal Government remains unresolved, and marketers nationwide are left watching, waiting, and hoping the next price shift doesn’t catch them off guard.

For additional context on the facility at the center of this dispute, see Dangote Refinery on Wikipedia.

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