Nigeria’s daily petrol imports have drastically fallen by 67% from August 2024 to April 2025, now at 14.7 ML, as local refining surges

[dropcap]N[/dropcap]igeria has seen a dramatic 67 percent plunge in its daily imports of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), dropping from 44.6 million litres in August 2024 to just 14.7 million litres by April 13, 2025.

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This significant reduction of approximately 30 million litres per day is according to the latest supply tracker from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, revealed these figures to State House correspondents on Tuesday during the sixth edition of the Meet-the-Press briefing series organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

Mr Ahmed attributed this substantial decrease in imports to a remarkable 670 percent increase in local petrol supply within the same period.

After contributing negligibly in August 2024, local refineries collectively delivered 26.2 million litres per day in early April 2025.

This represents a significant leap from the 3.4 million litres recorded in September 2024, which was the first month to register measurable output from local plants.

The NMDPRA boss specifically credited this surge in domestic supply to the phased recommencement of operations at the Port Harcourt Refining Company in late November 2024, alongside increasing volumes from modular refineries across the country.

The Port Harcourt Refining Company had undergone significant rehabilitation efforts aimed at boosting its production capacity.

Despite this considerable progress in local supply and the consequent drop in imports, the combined total supply of petrol has only twice surpassed the government’s benchmark of 50 million litres per day consumption within the eight-month window under review.

These instances occurred in November 2024 (56 million litres) and February 2025 (52.3 million litres).

In March 2025, the combined supply slightly fell below the target at 51.5 million litres, and in the first half of April 2025, it remained below the benchmark at 40.9 million litres.

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Mr Ahmed clarified that the NMDPRA operates a system where import licenses are granted based on the country’s prevailing supply requirements, suggesting that the reduced import figures reflect the growing capacity of local refineries to meet domestic demand.