Dangote's Petrol Price Hikes Raise Questions Over Cost Explanation

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has raised its petrol price three times in nine days, citing the cost of crude oil bought weeks earlier. This explanation does not match the timing and size of the increases.

According to EBC Financial Group, an explanation based on stored crude cost should predict one increase, sized to the gap between old and new cost, timed to when the costlier oil entered the refining process.

However, in this case, Nigeria saw three increases of different sizes - N20, then N15, then N65 - across nine days, with the two largest coming while the crude price it blames was still falling.

The refinery's coastal price rose in step from N1,562,265 to N1,582,380 per metric tonne. Nigeria's National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) followed within days, lifting its pump price by N20 to N1,270 per litre.