After months of high fuel prices, Nigerians are finally seeing a small relief at the pump—petrol now sells at N860 per litre, down from over N1,000. But this drop isn’t just about fuel; it’s about something much bigger—the struggle to get dollars and how it controls the cost of almost everything in Nigeria.
Why Do Petrol Prices Keep Changing?
In Nigeria, the price of petrol isn’t just about how much oil we have—it’s about the value of the naira. Since most of our fuel is imported, oil marketers need dollars to buy it. When the naira weakens against the dollar, fuel prices shoot up. When the naira gains strength, prices drop.
Lately, the naira has gone from N1,700 per dollar to around N1,500, and that’s one big reason why petrol prices have fallen a bit. According to Femi Soneye, NNPCL’s spokesperson, the company regularly adjusts fuel prices based on market conditions.
This means petrol prices will keep rising and falling as long as Nigeria relies on imports and struggles with forex shortages.
How Did We Get Here?
For years, Nigeria kept petrol prices low through fuel subsidies, but in May 2023, President Bola Tinubu removed them. The result? Petrol prices jumped from N145 per litre to over N1,000, causing:
Transport fares to skyrocket—making daily commuting a struggle
Food and goods to become more expensive—hitting families hard
Businesses to suffer—as costs of running operations soared
To ease the pain, the government introduced Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles as a cheaper alternative to petrol. But adoption has been slow because many people don’t trust the system, and infrastructure is still lacking.
Will Petrol Prices Keep Dropping?
Also one of the major reason for the recent price reduction is the Dangote Refinery, which has now started operations and was the first to lower petrol prices before NNPCL followed. This refinery is expected to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported fuel, which means less need for dollars and, hopefully, more stable petrol prices.
But for now, the forex market remains king. If the naira keeps getting stronger, fuel prices may drop further. But if dollars become scarce again, we could see another hike.
For everyday Nigerians, the hope is simple: a stable economy, a strong naira, and fuel prices