Nigeria Imports 828m Litres of Petrol as Dangote Refinery Falls Short in October

Nigeria’s fuel security weakened in October after the Dangote Petroleum Refinery supplied only a fraction of the nation’s petrol needs, forcing the country to rely heavily on imports once again. According to new data released by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the refinery supplied just 512.4 million litres of petrol during the month — far below the 1.5 billion litres required to meet nationwide demand. As a result, the country significantly leaned on imported products to avert shortages.

The regulatory fact sheet revealed that marketers imported 828 million litres of petrol in October, supplying an average of 27.6 million litres per day to help cover Nigeria’s daily consumption, which has now risen to 56.74 million litres per day. The figures underscore the continued dominance of imported fuel in Nigeria’s supply chain despite earlier hopes that the Dangote Refinery, launched in 2024, would drastically cut the country’s dependence on foreign products.

This supply gap comes at a sensitive time for the Federal Government, which recently attempted to introduce a 15% import duty on petrol and diesel to protect local refining. Although officials of the refinery insisted in November that they were loading over 45 million litres of petrol and 25 million litres of diesel daily, new regulatory data shows that the refinery’s actual October performance — an average of 17.1 million litres per day — still falls well short of the national requirement. The import duty policy was later suspended to avoid further strain on supply.

Industry reactions have highlighted both optimism and concern. The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria welcomed Dangote’s progress but stressed that the country is still far from meeting domestic demand through local production. The group warned that the suspended import duty could have triggered immediate price increases, given the refinery’s current output limitations. They urged continued support for Dangote while pushing for broader industry-wide growth to stabilize the market.

Nigeria’s petrol sufficiency levels also slipped sharply, dropping from an average of 20 days late last year to just 9 days in October 2025. This shrinking buffer heightens the risk of nationwide disruptions in the event of import delays, port challenges, or forex volatility. Although diesel and aviation fuel remain stable, the new figures paint a clear picture: until domestic refining output improves significantly, Nigeria will remain vulnerable to global supply shocks and reliant on costly fuel imports.

source: punch