Petroleum marketers in Nigeria have expressed optimism that the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, will drop in the coming days following the resumption of loading activities at the Dangote Refinery.

The President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Abubakar Maigandi, confirmed to DAILY POST on Monday that members of the association have commenced loading petrol from the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery.

According to him, the development will ease the ongoing fuel supply shortage across the country and help stabilize market prices.

“Our members have started loading at the Dangote Refinery at ₦877 per litre, up from ₦820. We expect that with the availability of the product, the price will drop a little bit. I can’t say by how much, but there will certainly be a reduction,” Maigandi stated.

Similarly, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry, noted that the increased supply from the Dangote Refinery and other depots will enhance availability and reduce pump prices nationwide.

 “Whenever there are enough petrol products from the Dangote Refinery or the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, the country should be wet enough to guarantee affordability,” he said.

 DAILY POST revealed that several filling stations, including MRS, Emedeb, Optima, and Bova, have resumed dispensing fuel to motorists.

In the past two weeks, petrol prices in parts of Abuja had risen to between ₦940 and ₦965 per litre, following a temporary supply disruption attributed to operational hitches at the Dangote Refinery.

Last week, the Vice President of Dangote Industries, Devakumar Edwin, disclosed that over 310 million litres of petrol had been billed for loading at the refinery, signaling a boost in supply to the domestic market.

With the resumption of loading activities, stakeholders and consumers alike are hopeful that fuel prices will stabilize and gradually decline in the coming days.