NNPC has once again increased the price of petrol in Nigeria in response to the arrival of Dangote petroleum on the market

Nigerian state oil firm NNPC Ltd increased the price of petrol by 11% on Monday, marking the second increase in two weeks and the second day since it began procuring the fuel from the massive Dangote oil refinery on the outskirts of Lagos.

The 650,000 barrels per day refinery is anticipated to eliminate the need for years of petroleum imports in Nigeria, which had been subsidized for decades until President Bola Tinubu began withdrawing support in May of last year.

The cost of gasoline is a politically sensitive matter in Nigeria, as the majority of the population is not connected to the national electricity grid, necessitating the use of gasoline to power generators in households and small enterprises.

On Monday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced that petroleum prices had been raised from 858 naira ($0.53) per liter to 950 naira in Lagos and as high as 1,019 naira in northeastern states. The refinery is the source of the product, which it purchases at a rate of 898 naira per liter.

On Sunday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) initiated the procurement of fuel from Dangote in U.S. dollars. The company also stated that a contract to acquire petroleum in the local naira currency was yet to occur.

The most recent increase is expected to exacerbate public fury, as Nigerians are already grappling with inflation of 33.4%, which has resulted in rising transport costs and a cost-of-living crisis that culminated in violent protests in early August.

A Nigerian presidential committee declared on Friday that the local market would receive gasoline from the $20 billion Dangote refinery, thereby resolving a deadlock that had held up distribution.

The Dangote refinery will purchase 385,000 barrels of crude per day from NNPC in naira starting in October. The refinery will subsequently sell its petroleum in the local currency.

(One dollar is equivalent to 1,614.2000 naira)