Jet fuel: Dangote ready for direct sale, LCCI seeks action

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery is set to supply aviation fuel directly to airlines in Nigeria at N1,820 per litre, as the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Federal Government to help facilitate measures to lower airlines’ operating costs and prevent a sectoral collapse.

A senior official of the Dangote Group confirmed the move by the $20bn Lekki-based refinery exclusively to our correspondent on Sunday, stating that Dangote supplies over 90 per cent of the country’s aviation fuel needs.

The refinery has already commenced direct Jet A-1 supply to Ethiopian Airlines, according to its Managing Director, David Bird.

The official, who spoke to one of our correspondents in confidence due to the lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, said airlines and other interested buyers could approach the refinery to lift jet fuel at the new price.

“Anyone, including local airlines, can buy their requirements from our petroleum refinery,” the official said when asked if the Dangote refinery would supply jet fuel directly to local airlines.

The official confirmed that “N1,820 is the price at which we are selling at our loading bay,” adding that the refinery cannot be subsidising airlines in the face of high oil prices. The source confirmed that Dangote had been subsidising the prices of petrol and diesel, but aviation fuel would be sold at the competitive market price.

Dangote’s direct sale to airlines is coming at a time when the Airline Operators of Nigeria are accusing the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria of overpricing.

Another reliable source in the organisation told The PUNCH that the refinery would now publish prices for the sake of transparency. “Yes, as of today, Sunday, our jet fuel is N1,820 a litre. Note that this price is not stable.

It changes because of the volatility in the global market.

“The US-Iran war has dealt a heavy blow to everybody, and we are not insulated from the global shock. Henceforth, we will be publishing the prices so that both the airlines and the marketers will know what is happening in the market. I think transparency is now important,” the source said.

The PUNCH reports that the war in the Middle East triggered an oil price surge when the Strait of Hormuz was blocked by Iran. From less than $70 per barrel on February 28, Brent, the global benchmark for crude, jumped above $120 on Thursday before it dropped to $108 over the weekend.

Consequently, Dangote raised its petrol gantry price from N774 in February to N1,275 as of the time of filing this report. The oil price hike also affected diesel and aviation fuel.

In the aviation sector, airlines threatened to shut down due to an over 350 per cent rise in Jet A-1 prices until the government intervened last week. The Vice President of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, Allen Onyema, had recently disclosed that aviation fuel prices skyrocketed from about N900 per litre before the Iran crisis to between N2,700 and N2,900, with some marketers selling as high as N3,500.

Earlier, in a letter dated April 14, 2026, and addressed to the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, the President of AON, Abdulmunaf Sarina, said the surge in the price of Jet A1 had become unbearable for operators.

The PUNCH reports that AON had in its letter said, “The price of Jet-A1 as sold by marketers had risen significantly from the initial N900/litre as of February 28, 2026, to N3,300/litre as of today. This represents an increase of over 300 per cent.

“This astronomical and artificial increase is not commensurate with the rise in crude oil prices and is well above international market benchmarks, which reflect approximately a 30 per cent increase in crude oil cost. For the past weeks, airlines have endured this burden and continued operations out of patriotism and in the spirit of service to the nation. However, the situation has now become unbearable and clearly unsustainable,” the letter stated.

It urged MEMAN to prevail on its members to proportionately adjust jet fuel prices in line with international market realities, “as airlines can no longer sustain purchases at the current exorbitant rates.”

Responding, MEMAN attributed the rising cost of aviation turbine kerosene to global factors, particularly disruptions linked to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

The marketers expressed surprise at the N3,300 per litre price referenced by airline operators, stating that their internal survey showed significantly lower prices. The marketers said they would not be able to disclose a particular price, but N3,300 is over N1,000 above the normal price.

“In light of the above, we must express our surprise at the price of N3,300 per litre stated in your letter as the price being charged to some airline operators. MEMAN members do not discuss pricing, as this will be against competition law; however, the price of N3,300 is over N1,000 higher than our average market survey price of Jet A1 carried out for this exercise, after receipt of your letter,” MEMAN explained.

Last Monday, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority recommended that the price of aviation fuel should range between N1,760 and N1,988 per litre in Lagos and N1,809 and N2,037 per litre in Abuja.

LCCI seeks action

Meanwhile, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Federal Government to help with measures that would lower airlines’ operating costs to prevent a sectoral collapse, warning that while Nigeria’s jet fuel crisis reflects a global trend, its impact is harsher on the country due to its heavy dependence on oil revenue.

Following a Thursday economic outlook press briefing in Lagos, the chamber told The PUNCH that authorities must act decisively to keep airlines afloat without resorting to subsidies.

“We don’t want the airline industry to go under. So, we must find ways. It cannot be a subsidy for airlines, but we must find other ways to lower their cost of operation,” said the Deputy President of LCCI, Abimbola Olashore.

Speaking on the global context, Deputy President of LCCI, Knut Ulvmoen, said the crisis is not peculiar to Nigeria but stressed that local realities worsen its effects.

“We are not talking about Nigeria alone in this matter; we are talking about the entire world. For example, Lufthansa has cancelled thousands of trips, people are suffering all over the world, and taxi drivers are closing down because they cannot afford fuel anymore. What is the cost of crude oil now compared to some time ago? I think the most important thing is that it is available in Nigeria,” Ulvmoen said.

He added that local refining has cushioned supply risks, warning that the situation would have been worse without it. “Imagine Nigeria did not have a working refinery now, well, you can just dream about having it available,” Ulvmoen said.

Ulvmoen urged Nigerians to endure rising prices while commending domestic supply efforts. “I am sure Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company is careful in increasing prices, and it is necessary that you cover these costs. Let’s be happy with what we have. Let’s swallow the pain and hope this war that most people in the whole world are suffering, even in America, every small corner is suffering because of this war ends,” he said.

He warned against subsidy interventions, citing past inefficiencies. “I also don’t think the Nigerian government should go in and subsidise, because once they start with subsidising, we have seen the result before: the prices are not really going up, but the profit for some pockets is going up,” Ulvmoen said.

Similarly, Olashore noted that the crisis reflects a broader global disruption and warned of its ripple effects on consumers and businesses. “We are quite lucky in Nigeria that at least the goods are available. On jet fuel, the price you get will be reflective of what it costs the refinery, so the prices are bound to go up. It’s a global problem,” Olashore said.

He added that rising fuel costs would inevitably affect ticket prices and consumer spending. “So, clearly, there must be some adjustment to everyone. But for us in Nigeria, it means a double-edged sword. It’s almost all sectors of the economy,” Olashore said.

She stressed that the aviation sector remains critical and must be protected. “But clearly, I think we’re going to see how we can help out in some sectors. As for sectors that we don’t want them to go under, one of them is the airline industry,” Olashore said.

Earlier, in his Q2 2026 economic outlook, LCCI President Leye Kupoluyi highlighted opportunities in the oil and gas sector amid rising crude prices driven by geopolitical tensions.

“The high prices of crude oil in the international market today, caused by the war in the Middle East, present huge opportunities that can only be explored if we boost our local production and refining capacities to position ourselves as an alternative oil supply hub in Africa,” Kupoluyi remarked.

He also urged regulators to embrace digital reforms to enhance efficiency and investor confidence, stating, “We urge the Commission to prioritise a fully digital regulatory ecosystem that eliminates bottlenecks, improves transparency, and aligns Nigeria with global best practices.”