The Group Chief Executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Bayo Ojulari, has blamed the recent rise in cooking-gas prices on a temporary disruption to loading and distribution during the strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria.

Ojulari said this while speaking to State House correspondents on Sunday, after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu.

According to the NNPC boss, the industrial action halted operations for several days and produced an “artificial” spike in prices.

He said, “The increase you saw was relatively artificial because for the period of the strike, movements and loading were delayed by about two, three days,” he said. “And because of that, you see that impact. As things return back to normal, it takes some time for distribution to be fully restored.”

The price surge followed the PENGASSAN industrial action, which was launched over the dismissal of Nigerian workers at the Dangote Refinery and suspended on October 1 after federal government intervention.

Ojulari also accused opportunistic retailers of exploiting the shortfall to hike prices.

He, however, assured Nigerians that as supply chains stabilise, the cooking gas price is expected to ease in the coming weeks.

“As you know, in Nigeria, people take opportunity. With that delay, some of the people that had existing resources and reserves had to put up the price.”

“My expectation is that now that things are back to normal, prices should return to what they were before the strike,” he said.

Ojulari said the Dangote Group’s agreement to redeploy affected staff and the resumption of operations have begun to ease supply bottlenecks.

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Despite receiving petrol at N820 per litre with no logistics costs, partners of the Dangote Refinery have yet to reduce pump prices at their filling stations.

Findings revealed that Heyden, AP, MRS and other major partners continued to sell petrol at N865 per litre.

Apart from a few MRS outlets in Lagos that adjusted their prices to N841 per litre, most stations maintained the previous rates. The MRS station at Alapere experienced long queues as motorists rushed to buy petrol at N841, while others along the same axis sold for N865 per litre.

However, at the MRS station in Olowotedo, along the Mowe–Ibafo axis of Ogun State, petrol sold for as high as N875 per litre. Heyden offered N863, while Ardova and others retained prices between N865 and N870 per litre.

Recall that marketers, including Conoil, Eterna, Golden Super, Nepal Energies, Kifayat Global Energy, and Riquest and Gas, had partnered with the Dangote Refinery under its logistics-free fuel distribution scheme.

The refinery had earlier announced that from Monday, September 15, petrol prices were expected to drop following the rollout of more than 1,000 compressed natural gas-powered trucks to enable direct fuel distribution across the country. According to Dangote, the initiative was designed to cut logistics costs and reduce the ex-depot price to N820 per litre, translating into lower pump prices nationwide.

Under the new pricing framework, motorists in Lagos and other South-Western states were expected to pay N841 per litre, while those in Abuja, Rivers, Delta, Edo and Kwara states were projected to buy at N851 per litre.

The adjustment was meant to take immediate effect in selected states, with a nationwide rollout to follow as more CNG trucks were deployed. However, nearly three weeks later, the anticipated relief has not materialised, as most filling stations continue to sell at old rates.

Our correspondent observed several Dangote CNG trucks along the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, confirming the commencement of the direct, logistics-free fuel distribution scheme.

Some marketers claimed that they had not reduced prices because they still held old stock purchased at higher costs, saying adjustments would be made once the new supplies reached their tanks.

However, a source at the Dangote Refinery told The PUNCH that many of the marketers had already received new supplies and had no justification for maintaining prices above N841 or N851 per litre, depending on their location.

“It’s unfair to keep selling at old rates. They are receiving the product at N820 per litre with free logistics, yet they’re still selling higher, that’s not right,” the source, who requested anonymity, said.

The source further explained that the refinery could not enforce pump prices.

“We can’t compel them as before. It’s purely on recommendation, since marketers insist the law does not permit us to fix pump prices, and NMDPRA seems to agree,” the official noted.

“Those who submitted their station lists are already getting supplies. We would have covered more ground if not for the PENGASSAN issue, but by this new week, we expect wider coverage. Still, marketers should understand that Nigerians are watching and expecting new prices; that’s why you see queues at the MRS station in Alapere,” the source added.

Meanwhile, not all stakeholders have welcomed Dangote’s frequent price adjustments. The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria recently criticised the refinery’s pricing strategy, saying the timing of its cuts often disrupts market stability.

DAPPMAN Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, argued that portraying the price reductions as patriotic gestures ignored their broader implications.

“Claims that repeated fuel price reductions by the Dangote Refinery are patriotic overlook their timing and market impact. These cuts are often introduced when other importers have active cargoes at sea or in tanks, creating price shocks that distort competition and impose financial strain on market participants — including the refinery’s own domestic customers,” Adewole said.

For over a year since commencing petrol production, the Dangote Refinery has effectively taken over as the market’s price trendsetter, displacing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited from its traditional role.

NNPC spokesperson Andy Odeh confirmed that the company had not adjusted its rates.

“Our current pump price in Lagos remains N865. We have not made any changes,” he said.

Independent marketers had previously pledged to review pump prices once they began receiving supplies from Dangote, but as of Sunday, no adjustments had been made.

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Nigerians are currently facing the shortage of cooking gas across major cities in the country.

Many of the gas stations selling the essential commodity appear to have run out of them while those with the product are currently selling at exorbitant prices.

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, NALPGAM, Bassey Essien, claims that the recent strike action by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN led to the disruption in the supply of the product across the different gas stations in the country.

“Dangote Petroleum Refinery is currently the highest local supplier of cooking gas in Nigeria. The crisis involving PENGASSAN scuttled distribution. Many dealers could not replenish their stocks during the period.

What we are witnessing is a function of demand and supply. In practice, the demand for cooking gas is higher than supply. But supply would likely stabilise in the coming days, following resolution of the conflict.” he told Vanguard

As at today, the price of refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas has increased to N25,000 this week from N17,500 it was the previous week. The price of 1kg currently retails at between N1, 500 and N2, 000, depending on the location.

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