Why Nigerians can’t get cheaper fuel amid crude price drop – Refiners

The Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria, CORAN, has explained why Nigerians cannot get cheaper Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, prices amid the crude oil price drop.

CORAN argued that the suspension of Naira-for-crude deals, profiteering by middlemen, and rising foreign exchange rates are the reasons local prices of petrol have remained high despite the drops in crude prices.

The spokesperson of CORAN, Eche Idoko, made this known while reacting to the global crude oil price crash.

DAILY POST reports that crude fell to as low as $64 per barrel for Brent and $59.7 for WTI at the weekend.

The drop in crude prices has been consistent since Trump's tariff took effect and following an unexpected Organisation of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC+) supply cut announcement.

Meanwhile, despite the drop in global prices, the local prices of refined products such as fuel have been on the increase in Nigeria.

Reacting, Idoko said, “The price will continue to rise because these middlemen are the elements that want to see that local refining is not sustained.

“You have the FX effects, you have the effects of the logistics of shipping in refined petroleum products, and then you also have the effect of the middlemen. All these will push the cost of petroleum products high in Nigeria.”

Recall that MRS filling stations, a partner of Dangote Refinery, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, and others, last week increased their petrol pump prices.

Currently, Nigerians buy petrol for between N900 and N975 per litre, depending on the location.

The development comes as Dangote Refinery, on 19th March 2025, suspended petrol product sales in Naira following the stalemate of the Naira-for-crude sale deal between the company and the Nigerian government through NNPCL.