Dangote Refinery Is An Oligopoly, Controls Petrol Pricing In Nigeria –Energy Expert Agbon | Sahara Reporters

He further alleged that Dangote buys crude in Naira but pegs its selling price in dollars.

A prominent Nigerian energy expert, Prof. Izielen Agbon, has accused Dangote Refinery of operating as an oligopoly that unilaterally determines petrol prices in Nigeria.

Agbon, who was a guest speaker at the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB) webinar/public discussion, hosted on Sunday, alleged that Nigerian oil marketers are buying Dangote petrol in Lome, Togo, and re-importing it to undersell the same product in the domestic market.

Speaking on the topic: “Working-Class Solutions to PMS Price Increases and Fuel Subsidy Removal,” the energy expert claimed that Dangote controls about 50 percent of the Nigerian market and therefore sets the price others follow.

“Dangote, because it controls 50 percent of the market, is an oligopoly. It is Dangote that sets the price of petrol in Nigeria. Nobody sells lower than Dangote. Dangote controls the pricing of petrol in Nigeria,” Agbon said.

He further alleged that Dangote buys crude in Naira but pegs its selling price in dollars.

“So while Dangote is buying crude in Naira, Dangote is making sure that his sales is pegged in dollars. It’s pegged at 0.799 dollars per litre,” he said.

“Dangote uses the import parity pricing method, because he says, look, this is the price at my gate,” Agbon stated.

Agbon then described what he called the “Lome Circular Trade Route,” alleging that Dangote petrol is exported and later re-imported by Nigerian marketers to undersell Dangote in Nigeria.

“The cabal knows that when the oil price dropped in Lome, that they have got Dangote petrol sold to them in large bulk. So in March to June 2026, the Dangote price that it was using to sell to members of the cabal, Glencore, Transfigura, Vitol in Lome, what they call ship-to-ship transfer.

“You don’t go to the port. Dangote ship goes there, and while on the high sea, they transfer the petrol right into the ship of Transfigura and Vitol. They were doing that at N1,222 per litre. The international traders called their partners, the marketers in Nigeria, and sold Dangote petrol to Nigerian marketers in Lome, Togo,” he alleged.

“Those Nigerian marketers brought it into the country, and they were underselling Dangote in Nigeria,” he added.

Agbon summed up the alleged scheme: “So Dangote was exporting its own petrol, and marketers were buying it in the international market, bringing it into Nigeria, and selling it at a lower price than Dangote was selling petrol to us in Nigeria. That’s what is known as the Lome secular trade.”

He claimed the situation embarrassed Dangote and drew international attention.

“It was so embarrassing that the World Bank and the IMF, who support the international cabal, came out and told the Nigerian government, ‘Give licenses to marketers,’” he said.

“We need a fairer market. Dangote was so embarrassed. Dangote started accusing those people of blending and all kinds of funny things,” he added.

According to Agbon, the contradiction arises because Dangote sets prices domestically but not internationally.

“But actually, the reason this happened is because Dangote’s is Oligopoly; he sets the price in Nigeria, but it does not set the price internationally. So we have situations where Dangote’s price in Nigeria is higher than Dangote’s price externally, therefore becoming a threat to it,” he said.

He argued that the interests of Dangote and Nigerian workers are not the same.

“What is good for Dangote is not necessarily what is good for the Nigerian workers. It’s not necessarily what is good for Nigeria,” Agbon said.

“Dangote fights the oil cabal. Dangote fights the Nigerian downstream petroleum regulatory agency. He had the chairman removed because the chairman wanted to put an anti-monopoly regulation and give more import licences to the marketers. Dangote fought the trade unions, NUPENG, PENGASSAN, sacked workers because Dangote’s interest is to increase the dividends to his shareholders, not to reduce, to benefit workers,” he said.

SaharaReporters’ attempts to reach Anthony Chiejina, Group Head of Corporate Communications at Dangote Group, on his mobile phone for comments regarding Agbon’s claims were unsuccessful.