Competition among petroleum marketers and depot owners across Nigeria intensified on Tuesday as prices for petrol and diesel saw downward adjustments in key hubs like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Warri, and Calabar. This trend follows a drop in global crude oil values, with Brent crude falling below the $80 per barrel threshold.
International benchmarks saw significant shifts, with Brent crude dropping 5.59 percent to $79.09 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate falling nearly 6 percent. These declines create financial uncertainty for oil-exporting nations, including Nigeria, should the current market pattern continue.
Locally, while the Dangote Petroleum Refinery kept its petrol pricing steady at N1,215 per litre, various independent depots adjusted their rates to attract marketers. In Lagos, pricing among major depots remained tightly clustered between N1,215 and N1,218 per litre. Meanwhile, industrial consumers received some relief as depots like Emadeb lowered diesel prices to N1,620 per litre.
The adjustments were most pronounced in Warri, where firms such as Matrix, A.Y.M. Shafa, and Nipco implemented notable cuts to both petrol and diesel prices. Further checks revealed that many marketers in Lagos have successfully lowered their retail prices to a range of N1,245 to N1,250 per litre, down from previous levels exceeding N1,280 per litre.
