The landing cost of imported premium motor spirit increased to N885 per litre on Wednesday from N797.

The Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria disclosed the rise in the landing cost of petrol in its daily energy bulletin released on Wednesday.

This represents 88 increase from the N797 per litre landing cost of petrol last week.

The implication is that the price of imported petrol at Nigerian filling stations may increase to about N1,000 per litre from between N940 and N970.

The current landing cost of petrol is N797 compared to the ex-depot price of Dangote Refinery’s petrol, which stood at N815 per litre. To this end, Dangote Petrol is sold at a retail price in MRS fillings at N860 and N880 per litre in Lagos and Abuja.

Meanwhile, Dangote Refinery’s decision last week Wednesday to halt petroleum products sales in Naira may impact the company’s fresh price template.

Going by the development in the country’s downstream sector, the prices of Dangote Petrol and import fuel are expected to go up in the coming days.

On Tuesday, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria warned Nigerians against panic buying amid petrol price uncertainty.

PETROAN urged the Nigerian government to continue its Naira-for-Crude deal with Dangote Refinery and at the same time ensure fair pricing competition in the country’s downstream sector.

“PETROAN has also noted reports circulating in the media that the temporary suspension of sales in naira by Dangote Refinery is the reason for the panic buying.

“We wish to reassure the public that this is not a justification for panic buying,” it said.

PETROAN further kicked against the sale of petroleum products in dollars in the Nigerian local market.

Napster, the brand notoriously connected to music piracy before reemerging as a subscription music service, has been sold to Infinite Reality for $207 million (€192m).

The tech startup announced it had bought Napster in hopes of transforming the streaming service into a social music platform where artists can connect with fans and better monetize off their work.

“The internet has evolved from desktop to mobile, from mobile to social, and now we are entering the immersive era,” said Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos. “Yet, music streaming has remained largely the same. It’s time to reimagine what’s possible.”

Among its plans to update Napster, Infinite Reality said it will create virtual 3D spaces that will allow fans to attend concerts, and give musicians or labels the ability to sell digital and physical merchandise.

Artists will also receive a wider range of metrics and analytics to better understand the behavior of platform users.

“We can think of no better use case for our technology than putting it in the hands of music artists who are constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible,” said Infinite Reality Chief Business Officer Amish Shah.

Napster was launched in 1999 by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker and quickly became the first significant peer-to-peer file-sharing application. It kicked off a wave of pirating software and applications, later followed by the likes of LimeWire.

Napster filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and was shut down after the record industry and rock band Metallica sued over copyright violations. Rhapsody later bought the brand in 2011 and relaunched it as a music streaming service.

Petroleum Products Retailers and marketers have explained why petrol imports have persisted despite the Dangote Refinery and other local refineries’ production capacity.

The President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association and the Chairman, Major Marketers Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry and Tunji Oyebanji in an exclusive interview with Ekwutosblog on Monday cited fear of healthy market competition, competitive pricing and inadequate petrol production capacity as reasons for the product’s continued import.

This comes amid the National Bureau of Statistics’ foreign trade data showing that petrol imports surged by 105 percent to N15.4 trillion at the end of 2024.

Similarly, the report indicated that fuel imports hit N930 billion in February 2025 alone, raising concerns among stakeholders in the country’s downstream sector.

Recall that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority said that Dangote Refinery, Port Harcourt and Warri refineries met only 50 percent of the national petroleum products consumption requirement in February 2025. #

However, in a statement last month, the president of Dangote Refinery countered NMDPRA and insisted that the $20 billion Refinery can meet 100 percent of Nigeria’s 100 percent petroleum production requirements.

Nigerians are now left in limbo amid the controversy as NNPC said it has not imported petrol so far in 2025.

Meanwhile, Gillis-Harry and Oyebanji in their insights to Ekwutosblog put clarity to the debate.

Speaking, Gillis-Harry insisted that petroleum retailers get their products from all sources, including Dangote Refinery, NNPC and import.

According to him, petrol retailers will continue to get fuel from sources with the best pricing to avoid a monopoly of the country’s petroleum downstream.

He frowned at a situation where the refinery would reduce fuel prices overnight without due consultation with its partners and retailers.

Gillis-Harry added that healthy competition and price stability must be guaranteed in Nigeria’s downstream sector for the good of Nigerians.

“Retailers are not running away from Dangote Refinery. We patronize every refinery, but we subscribe to full liberation so that we will not run a monopolized downstream sector.

“A situation where one refinery is shifting prices up and down without consideration of retailers is uncalled for.

“We cannot buy a product at N889, and over the night, the prices are dropped to N825, which is unfair.

“We continue to buy petrol from all sources that are profitable to us, either NNPCL, Dangote Refinery or through import”, he told Ekwutosblog.

On his part, Oyebanji explained that local refineries such as Dangote Refinery were not meeting 100 percent of domestic demand- the reason for fuel import to augment the vacuum.

According to him, if local refineries produced enough to meet the domestic market and with competitive prices, no right-thinking businessman would import.

“The report circulated today was for 2024. I don’t understand why it is being played up in the media as if it is new.

“Seems it is to advance a particular agenda. I don’t think local refineries are meeting 100 percent of local demand.

“So, to prevent shortages, some importation is being allowed, but to give the impression that such importation is growing isn’t correct.

“NNPCL, which has been the largest importer up to last year, has confirmed that they have not imported and yet someone is pushing this narrative.

“If local refineries produce enough to satisfy local demand and sell at a competitive price, then no right-thinking businessman will import”, he told Ekwutosblog.

Recall that earlier this month and last month, NNPC and Dangote refineries reduced petrol prices to between N860 and N880 per liter.

The development sparked a price war among the bigwigs in the country’s downstream sector, as Nigerians now buy petrol between N860 and N970 per liter nationwide.

On October 15, 2024, 650, 000 barrels per day, Dangote Refinery kicked off supply of petrol.

At the same, NNPC restarted petrol production at the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries in November and December 2024.