NIGERIANS may pay more for fuel as global oil prices rose above $100 per barrel mark for the first time since May.
This represents about 6.77per cent increase on Thursday following several days of increases as the US stepped up military strikes against Iran.
This development, according to analysts may trigger another upward adjustment in Nigeria’s depot and retail fuel prices as higher international crude prices continue to raise replacement costs.
They also pointed out that the hike in global oil prices would directly impact Nigeria’s 2026 budget by defining its fiscal windfalls and revenue vulnerabilities.
Recall that the the budget is benchmarked at $64.85 per barrel and 1.84 million barrels per day (mbpa).
When prices sit above the benchmark (averaging $72-$90), Nigeria gains excess revenue
Thursday’s hike in global oil prices is coming barely 24 hours that Dangote Petroleum Refinery increased its ex-depot petrol price to N1,215 per litre from previous N1,075 per litre, representing 13.02 per cent increase.
The refinery also resumed the gantry loading of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in naira after one week of suspension of truck loading.
It was gathered that prices spiked after Houthi militia in Yemen attacked oil tankers in the Red Sea, threatening a key export route that Saudi Arabia has used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
These attacks have lifted global benchmark prices by about 20 percent over the past two weeks.
Supply concerns have also widened beyond the Middle East. Kazakhstan has reportedly begun cutting oil production after drone attacks disrupted tanker loadings at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium terminal on the Black Sea.
Indian state refiners have suspended Iraqi crude loadings because of shipping risks around Hormuz, while Russian fuel exports remain constrained following months of attacks on refinery infrastructure.
Strategic petroleum reserves released by several governments since the conflict escalated have reduced emergency stockpiles, commercial inventories have continued to decline, and China has increasingly relied on previously accumulated reserves rather than fresh imports.
The impact is already beginning to reflect in Nigeria’s downstream market.
