Petrol imports down 67% in eight months — NMDPRA

• Published On: 15 April 2025 at 19:15

According to the most recent supply tracker from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, imports of Premium Motor Spirit have drastically decreased, falling from 44.6 million litres per day in August 2024 to 14.7 million litres as of April 13, 2025—a decrease of roughly 30 million litres, or 67%.

Farouk Ahmed, the CEO of NMDPRA, disclosed this information on Tuesday while speaking to State House reporters at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja at the sixth meeting of the Presidential Communications Team's Meet-the-Press briefing series.

Ahmed reported a 670 percent increase in local supply at that time.

Local refineries provided 26.2 million litres per day by early April 2025, up from 3.4 million litres in September, when measured output first started, even though domestic production was almost zero in August 2024.

He credited the gradual increase in output from modular refineries and the Port Harcourt Refining Company's phased restart in late November with the dramatic increase in local supply.

Only twice over the eight-month period—56 million litres in November and 52.3 million litres in February—did the combined supply surpass the government's 50 million litres per day consumption target, despite the advances.

At 51.5 million litres in March, it fell just short of the goal, and in the first half of April, it dropped even lower to 40.9 million litres.

The head of the NMDPRA clarified that the Authority only considers the nation's actual supply needs when granting import licenses.