The Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Government to curb petroleum-product imports and strengthen domestic refineries as Nigeria seeks to consolidate its growing refining capacity.
The association made the call in Abuja on Thursday, September 3, 2026, in a position paper titled “Position Paper on the Urgent Need for Strategic Government Intervention to Strengthen Nigeria’s Domestic Refining Industry”, arguing that sustained government intervention is needed to protect local refining investment and reduce Nigeria’s exposure to imported fuel.
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CORAN said Nigeria’s position as a major crude oil producer should give the country a stronger foundation for domestic refining, but refinery operators continue to face foreign-exchange pressures, expensive borrowing, inadequate access to long-term finance, crude supply constraints, infrastructure deficiencies and high logistics costs.
“It is sound industrial policy. It is energy-security policy. And ultimately, it is economic policy,” the association stated.
The appeal comes at a delicate moment for Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market.
Domestic refining has expanded considerably since the start of 2026, led by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and supported by a growing number of smaller and modular facilities.
NUPRC data show that 53.7 million barrels of crude oil and condensate were supplied to domestic refiners between April and June 2026 under the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation.
That represented 97.4 per cent performance for the second quarter, a substantial improvement from the 28.5 million barrels supplied in the first quarter.
The improvement suggests that the domestic crude supply mechanism has begun producing better results, although CORAN argues that the volume of crude allocated or offered to refiners is only part of the problem.
“A refinery does not consume an allocation on paper. It consumes crude delivered under commercially sustainable terms,” CORAN stated.
The association said the first quarter exposed the gap between crude that producers offered and crude that actually reached refineries.
According to CORAN, 61.9 million barrels were allocated to domestic refineries during the first quarter, while producers offered 68.7 million barrels.
Only 28.5 million barrels were ultimately delivered.
NUPRC subsequently reported a marked improvement in the second quarter, with 53.7 million barrels of crude oil and condensate supplied to local refiners and overall Domestic Crude Supply Obligation performance reaching 97.4 per cent.
CORAN welcomed that improvement but maintained that supply must also be commercially workable.
The association wants the government to develop a domestic refinery crude-pricing framework that takes account of international benchmarks, crude quality, the point of delivery, avoided international freight and insurance expenses, domestic transportation and evacuation costs, proximity to producing assets and reasonable margins for producers.
“The objective is not subsidised crude. The objective is correctly priced crude,” CORAN stated.
The call for action also reflects a renewed concern over petrol imports.
NMDPRA-linked data show that average daily domestic petrol supply fell from 32.5 million litres in June to 25.8 million litres in July, a decline of about 21 per cent.
Over the same period, petrol imports rose from 18.1 million litres to 19.7 million litres per day, an increase of about nine per cent.
Total daily petrol receipts consequently fell from 50.6 million litres to 45.5 million litres.
The July figures did not erase the broader progress made by local refiners.
An analysis of NMDPRA data showed that domestic refineries supplied about 7.41 billion litres of petrol between January and July 2026, compared with approximately 4.27 billion litres during the same period in 2025.
Domestic refineries therefore accounted for nearly three-quarters of Nigeria’s petrol supply during the first seven months of 2026, despite the resurgence of imports in June and July.
That shift has intensified an existing debate over how much room imported petrol should retain in a market where local refining capacity is increasing.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has previously challenged the continued issuance of petrol import licences, arguing that imports should be permitted when domestic production is insufficient to meet demand.
A fresh legal dispute over import licences is pending, with the Federal High Court scheduled to hear the matter in October.
The argument has also evolved from whether Nigeria should import fuel to how imports should coexist with an emerging domestic refining industry.
CORAN said imports should increasingly be used to cover genuine supply gaps rather than operate alongside domestic production in a way that discourages investment in Nigerian refineries.
“A continuous import regime existing alongside substantial domestic refining investment exports Nigerian jobs and refining margins, places additional demand on foreign exchange, weakens investment incentives for existing and prospective refineries, exposes Nigeria to international freight disruptions and geopolitical shocks,” the association stated.
CORAN stopped short of advocating policies that could create artificial shortages.
Instead, it proposed that import licences should increasingly be calibrated against independently verified domestic production and supply gaps.
The association said locally produced petroleum products that meet the required specifications and commercial conditions should receive priority in the Nigerian market.
The position reflects an important tension in Nigeria’s fuel market.
Imports can provide a useful buffer when domestic production falls short, but excessive dependence on foreign products leaves the country vulnerable to international freight costs, exchange-rate movements and disruptions in global energy markets.
The challenge is particularly significant because Nigeria has spent decades exporting crude oil while importing much of the petrol, diesel and aviation fuel consumed domestically.
CORAN wants that pattern reversed.
The association said refinery investment should be treated as industrial infrastructure capable of supporting employment, engineering services, fabrication, transportation, petrochemicals, lubricants, plastics and other connected industries.
“Every barrel refined within Nigeria has the potential to retain economic value that would otherwise leave the country,” it stated.
Access to finance remains another major concern.
CORAN said refineries require large amounts of capital not only for processing equipment but also for storage, utilities, pipelines, loading facilities, environmental systems, laboratories, fire protection and working capital.
It therefore called for a dedicated refinery development financing framework capable of providing longer-tenor funding at commercially sustainable rates.
The association also wants the Federal Government to expand the use of naira-for-crude arrangements.
CORAN has repeatedly argued that allowing domestic refineries to purchase crude in naira can reduce their exposure to foreign-exchange volatility and improve refinery utilisation.
Earlier in 2026, the association specifically called for the policy to be expanded to modular and independent refineries.
The call comes after the initial naira-for-crude arrangement, introduced as a six-month pilot, reached the end of its first phase in 2025.
The policy was designed to make crude available to domestic refiners in naira rather than dollars and reduce some of the currency pressures facing the sector.
CORAN now wants the mechanism embedded more firmly into Nigeria’s refining strategy.
It also called for stronger enforcement of the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation under Section 109 of the Petroleum Industry Act and greater use of crude swaps where they can improve refinery feedstock availability.
The association proposed an urgent Presidential Refining Industry Roundtable involving refinery owners, NUPRC, NMDPRA, NNPC Limited, crude producers, financial institutions, infrastructure investors and relevant government ministries.
The proposed meeting would focus on crude supply, pricing, financing, import policy, infrastructure and incentives for refinery expansion.
CORAN also urged the government to encourage investments in conversion units capable of increasing domestic production of petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and liquefied petroleum gas.
The association believes Nigeria needs a network of large, medium-sized and modular refineries distributed around crude-producing regions and major consumption centres.
“The success of one refinery should not mark the completion of Nigeria’s refining ambition. Nigeria requires an ecosystem,” CORAN stated.
The position marks a continuation of the association’s long-running campaign for policies that favour domestic refining.
CORAN has previously praised government measures aimed at strengthening local refining and has urged authorities to enforce domestic crude supply obligations more consistently.
The association has also maintained that modular refineries need commercially viable access to crude if they are to contribute meaningfully to energy security.
For the Federal Government, the policy challenge is now one of balance.
Completely eliminating imports before domestic refineries can consistently meet national demand could create supply risks.
At the same time, allowing imports to expand unchecked could undermine the commercial incentives needed to keep Nigeria’s new refining capacity operating at scale.
The latest NMDPRA figures illustrate that dilemma.
Local refineries remained the larger source of petrol in July, but their average supply fell sharply while imports increased.
CORAN’s preferred approach is therefore not simply to shut the door on foreign fuel.
It wants imports increasingly tied to demonstrable shortages while government policy focuses on making Nigerian refineries competitive enough to supply the market consistently.
That would require reliable crude deliveries, workable pricing, affordable long-term finance, efficient infrastructure and predictable regulation.
Ultimately, CORAN’s argument is that Nigeria’s refining ambitions cannot be secured by refining capacity alone.
The country must also ensure that refineries have access to crude, capital and markets under conditions that allow them to operate sustainably.
“Nigeria should not continue exporting crude, exporting jobs and importing the same petroleum products at considerable economic cost,” CORAN stated.
The association wants Nigeria to move towards becoming a refining hub for Africa, with domestic refineries supplying the local market first and eventually serving regional demand.
Whether that ambition becomes reality will depend on how effectively the Federal Government balances consumer protection, competition, crude producers’ commercial interests and the survival of the domestic refining industry.
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For now, the refinery owners are asking Abuja to make a clear choice: support the infrastructure Nigeria has spent years building, or risk allowing renewed fuel imports to weaken the very industry intended to reduce the country’s dependence on them.
