The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Bayo Ojulari, on Sunday, assured Nigerians that ongoing price competition in the downstream petroleum sector will ultimately benefit consumers.
He described current market tensions as a natural consequence of Nigeria’s transition from total import dependence to domestic refining. “Where there is healthy competition, the buyers are the ultimate beneficiaries.
And I think for us, we need to keep in mind that the market will stabilise. After a while, there’ll be some tension, because we’re going through a major transition,” Ojulari told journalists after briefing President Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
The NNPC boss made the remarks against the backdrop of an intense price war that has seen petrol prices crash from over N1,200 per litre in November 2024 to as low as N739 per litre at some retail outlets in December 2025, driven primarily by competition between Dangote Refinery, NNPC, and independent marketers.
“At the end of the day, I can tell you that Nigerians on the street are going to be the beneficiaries,” Ojulari declared. Clarifying NNPC’s role in the deregulated market, Ojulari emphasised that the company is no longer responsible for petroleum product pricing or regulation under the Petroleum Industry Act.
“The first thing you have to know is that the PIA did something fundamental. Before the PIA in 2021, which rolled in 2022, everything was under NNPC, including some regulations. The PIA divided the roles of regulation from what I will call the business,” he explained.
Ojulari added, “The NMDPRA is responsible for all downstream regulation and midstream, as you know, and the NUPRC is responsible for all upstream regulations. So it’s very important that Nigerians understand that post-PIA, we as NNPC, we are not regulators.”
He stressed that NNPC has been instituted by the PIA to become “a commercial company, which means a company that needs to compete profitably and be successful profitably.”
Ojulari disclosed that NNPCL no longer receives federation allocations and must raise finance independently “like any other business.”
Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector has been gripped by fierce competition since September 2024, when Dangote Refinery, Africa’s largest single-train refinery with 650,000 barrels per day capacity, began producing petrol locally.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the average retail price of Premium Motor Spirit fell by N153 per litre between November 2024 and November 2025—from N1,214.17 to N1,061.35, driven by supply improvements and stronger competition.
The price war intensified dramatically in December 2025 when Dangote slashed its ex-depot price from N970 to N699 per litre, forcing other players to follow suit or risk losing market share.
