Dangote Refinery Halts Self-Collection Fuel Sales Amid Clash With Marketers, Unions

|By Adejumo Adekunle

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has suspended all self-collection gantry sales of premium motor spirit (PMS), escalating tensions with petroleum marketers and oil unions.

In an email to customers on Thursday, September 18, 2025, sighted on Friday, the 650,000-barrel-per-day refinery announced the immediate halt, directing clients to stop payments tied to active PFIs for self-collection until further notice.

“We wish to inform you that, effective 18th September 2025, Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE (DPRP) has placed all self-collection gantry sales on hold until further notice. Any payment made after this date will not be honoured,” the refinery stated.

The suspension comes barely a week after Dangote introduced a nationwide distribution scheme with a gantry price of ₦820 per litre, a move that triggered backlash from the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

Both groups branded the move monopolistic, accusing the refinery of sidelining local marketers in favour of foreign offtakers. Dangote, however, pushed back, alleging that DAPPMAN had demanded a ₦1.5 trillion fuel subsidy—an allegation the association strongly denied.

With the standoff deepening, the suspension raises fresh uncertainty over the refinery’s distribution strategy and its relationship with Nigeria’s petroleum market stakeholders.