Petrol Discount: NNPC will sell petrol at cost for 30 days as the Federal Government proposes a ₦1,350 ex-gantry ceiling and other measures to ease fuel-price pressure
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) will forgo its petrol retail profit margin and sell fuel at cost for 30 days, as the Federal Government rolls out petrol discount measures to cushion Nigerians from rising petrol prices and global crude oil volatility.
The Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, announced the measures on Thursday, saying NNPC Retail would prioritise commercial and public transport operators under the temporary petrol discount arrangement.
“If NNPC’s landing cost is N1,300, it will sell fuel to Nigerians, especially commercial vehicles, at the same price,” the government said.
Oyedele said the intervention should not be interpreted as a return to the petrol subsidy abolished in May 2023.
He also announced that the Federal Government is negotiating a ₦1,350-per-litre ceiling on the ex-gantry or landing cost of petrol to moderate sharp price fluctuations.
“This is neither a subsidy nor a price control: it is designed to smooth prices over time rather than suppressing them,” Oyedele said.
Under the proposed Petrol Discount arrangement, refiners and importers would initially absorb costs above the ceiling and recover the difference when crude prices or exchange-rate conditions improve. The ceiling would be reviewed monthly, with the figures published for transparency.
More measures to cushion Nigerians
The government under tje Petrol Discount arrangement also plans forward sales of crude to domestic refineries as production rises, reducing their exposure to international market volatility.
Other measures include increased funding for cash transfers to vulnerable households, subsidised credit for small businesses and consumers, faster rollout of compressed natural gas (CNG), and action against road taxes and levies that increase transportation and logistics costs.
The government is also considering an excess-profit tax on operators found to be taking undue advantage of consumers across the energy value chain. Proceeds, it said, would be used for transport support or vouchers for vulnerable urban minimum-wage earners.
A National Strategic Fuel Reserve is also being developed to strengthen fuel security and allow refined products to be released during major supply disruptions or artificial scarcity.
The government said the reserve would not be used to fix prices or restore subsidy but to reduce supply shocks and price volatility.
Presidency: Subsidy will not return
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, acknowledged the pressure facing households but said the administration would not reverse the petrol subsidy reform.
“Removing the fuel subsidy came at a price. But the alternative has been tried,” Onanuga said.
He said the government’s focus was to ensure that the gains of reform reach more Nigerians “faster and in more tangible ways.”
The Presidency also said the Federal Government is working on broader fiscal measures aimed at bringing inflation down to single digits sustainably.
The measures announced on Thursday combine temporary petrol price relief with interventions targeting transport costs, household vulnerability, domestic refining and future energy-price shocks, while maintaining that the 2023 subsidy removal will not be reversed.
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