The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has fixed the gantry price of aviation fuel at ₦1,820 per litre, in a move aimed at improving transparency in the pricing of the product and addressing growing concerns in Nigeria’s aviation sector.
The development comes amid complaints by airline operators over the rising cost of aviation fuel, also known as Jet A1, and its impact on flight operations, ticket pricing and the overall stability of the industry.
Despite advisory guidance from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, oil marketers have continued to sell aviation fuel to airlines at ₦2,230 per litre and above, raising fresh concerns among operators.
The NMDPRA had earlier indicated that aviation fuel should sell within a price band of ₦1,760 to ₦1,988 per litre in Lagos and about ₦2,037 per litre in Abuja, based on prevailing market fundamentals.
The guidance followed a series of stakeholder engagements involving aviation operators, oil marketers, depot owners and other industry players, aimed at resolving recent disputes over jet fuel pricing.
However, market checks showed that actual transactions still remain significantly above the regulator’s benchmark, with some airlines reportedly paying as much as ₦2,230 per litre.
Speaking on the development, the Chief Executive Officer of Petroleumprice.ng, Olatide Jeremiah, said there was a lack of transparency in jet fuel pricing and urged Dangote Refinery to publish its daily gantry prices.
According to him, making the refinery’s daily aviation fuel price public would help reduce abnormal margins by middlemen and curb artificial price hikes threatening the aviation sector.
“There is a lack of transparency in jet fuel pricing. Dangote Refinery should, as a matter of urgency, publish its daily jet fuel gantry prices. This would erode abnormal margins by middlemen and help curb artificial hikes in jet fuel prices that are threatening to cripple businesses in Nigeria’s aviation sector,” Jeremiah said.
Also reacting, the spokesperson for United Nigeria Airlines, Chibuike Uloka, said the aviation fuel market is not controlled but operates under a free-market structure.
He explained that the NMDPRA could not impose prices but could only issue advisory guidance based on market assessments, landing cost and other relevant factors.
“It’s not a controlled market; it’s a free market. So, the NMDPRA cannot fix prices. Rather, based on its findings and market assessments, such as landing cost and other factors, it is only suggesting what the price should be,” Uloka said.
He noted that despite the regulator’s guidance, marketers were still selling aviation fuel at their own rates, with no effective enforcement to bring prices closer to the advisory benchmark.
“But marketers are still selling at their own rates, and no one has been able to call them to order. This issue goes beyond United Nigeria Airlines; it affects all members of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, not just a single airline,” he added.
Uloka further disclosed that the high cost of aviation fuel has sharply increased operating expenses for airlines.
He cited an earlier example by Ibom Air, which said fuel cost per operation rose from ₦2.9 million in January to ₦7.6 million.
According to him, the situation is even more severe for airlines operating Airbus aircraft because of their higher fuel capacity and longer endurance, which makes their fuel cost significantly higher.
