Dangote cuts petrol price to ₦1,175 a litre as crude falls after the US–Iran ceasefire

Nigerian motorists got their first real pricing relief in months. The Dangote Refinery lowered its ex-depot (ex-gantry) price for petrol (PMS) from ₦1,250 to ₦1,175 per litre — a ₦75 cut — with the new rate taking effect from 16 June 2026. The refinery also trimmed its coastal supply price from ₦1,595,790 to ₦1,495,215 per metric tonne, and said outstanding unloaded gantry volumes would be repriced at the lower rate.

Why the price fell: a calmer oil market

The trigger sat well outside Nigeria. The refinery tied the reduction to the de-escalation of the conflict between the United States and Iran and plans to partially reopen the Strait of Hormuz — the chokepoint through which a large share of the world's seaborne crude and refined products pass. Global crude prices that had spiked above $120 a barrel at the height of the hostilities slid back to around $83 once a ceasefire was announced, easing the supply fears that had pushed fuel costs up. Because crude is the dominant input cost for refined petrol, a cooler oil market feeds quickly into the ex-depot price.

It was the first major downward review in petrol pricing in several months — a reversal of the direction set in March 2026, when wartime crude spikes had pushed Dangote's ex-depot quote up toward ₦1,245. Filling stations had been selling close to ₦1,240 per litre before the cut.

Imported petrol briefly undercut local fuel

The reduction was sharp enough to flip the economics of the import trade — at least momentarily. In a bulletin dated 19 June 2026, the Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) put the landing cost of imported PMS at ₦1,041.52 per litre, some ₦133.48 below Dangote's ₦1,175 ex-gantry quote. In other words, fuel shipped in from abroad was — for a window — cheaper to land than the locally refined product, a reminder that Nigeria's deregulated market now prices petrol against a moving global benchmark rather than a fixed subsidy.

What it means for pump prices

Ex-depot is the wholesale price marketers pay before transport and station margins, so retail prices lag and vary by location — the deregulated pump price still ranges roughly ₦1,100–₦1,400 a litre across the country. The price Opaindex tracks for petrol (PMS) reflects the post-cut major-market average of ₦1,175 per litre; the national average published by the NBS runs higher because it is rural-inclusive and lags the mid-June move. Marketers quoted in the coverage said pump prices could ease below ₦1,000 per litre in the medium term if crude stays soft and the naira holds.

The bigger picture

Cheaper petrol filters through the whole economy: it lowers haulage and diesel (AGO)-linked distribution costs that sit underneath food, cement and other goods, and it relieves some of the imported-fuel pressure on the trade account. Falling petrol-import bills were one driver behind Nigeria's record Q1 2026 trade surplus as local refining displaced cargoes, and a softer fuel bill is one of the conditions that helps cool the broader inflation the CBN is watching before it resumes rate cuts.

For the live, sourced fuel prices behind this story — petrol, diesel, kerosene and cooking gas — see the Nigeria fuel price hub; each figure carries its own source, freshness (asOf) and confidence. The numbers in this article are as reported by Nigerian outlets in mid-June 2026 across the sources listed below.