Nigeria’s daily petrol imports fell 26% to 14.6 million litres in August as domestic supply rose 39%, with Dangote supplying 71% of petrol receipts.
Nigeria’s daily average petrol imports fell by 26 percent to 14.6 million litres in August, according to data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
According to the regulator’s August 2026 State of the Midstream and Downstream Sector factsheet, released Thursday, petrol imports declined from 19.7 million litres per day in July.
Over the same period, domestic petrol receipts rose by 39 percent to 35.9 million litres per day in August, from 25.8 million litres per day in July, meaning domestic supply exceeded imports by 21.3 million litres per day during the month.
Dangote Now Supplies 71% of Nigeria’s Petrol
The shift was driven overwhelmingly by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which alone accounted for approximately 71 percent of total Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) receipts in August, leaving roughly 29 percent to come from imports and other sources.
The regulator said total petrol receipts increased by 11 percent to 50.5 million litres per day in August, from 45.5 million litres per day in July. Despite the rise in supply, consumption fell by 14 percent to 41.5 million litres per day in August, from 48.3 million litres per day in July, based on volumes trucked out into the domestic market.
Diesel and Other Products
Diesel consumption also dropped, by 15 percent, to 14.3 million litres per day in August, from 16.8 million litres per day in July. Diesel daily receipts fell even more sharply, down 39 percent, from 23.6 million litres per day in July to 14.5 million litres per day in August.
The decline was driven substantially by a collapse in diesel imports, which dropped to just 1.3 million litres per day in August, from 7.9 million litres per day in July, a far steeper fall than the drop in petrol imports.
Aviation fuel receipts, by contrast, rose 63 percent to 3.1 million litres per day in August, from 1.9 million litres in July, even as aviation fuel consumption of 2.8 million litres per day came in below the sector’s 3-million-litre benchmark. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) imports rose to 1.3 million litres per day, from 0.9 million litres in July, while LPG consumption also exceeded its benchmark, reaching 4.8 kilotonnes per day against a 3.9-kilotonne benchmark.
The regulator said petrol stock sufficiency improved marginally to 22.9 days in August, from 22.4 days in July. Diesel stock sufficiency improved by 11 percent, to 51.6 days in August, from 46.5 days in July.
Dangote Refinery Produced 41.94m Litres of Petrol in August
The report showed that the Dangote refinery produced an average of 41.94 million litres of petrol daily during the month, with 35.87 million litres supplied to the domestic market and 9.73 million litres exported. The refinery ended August with 360.4 million litres of petrol in stock, while its average capacity utilisation stood at 105.21 percent.
The refinery also produced an average of 18.01 million litres of diesel daily during the month, with 12.37 million litres supplied to the domestic market and 8.75 million litres exported.
Between January and August, domestic refineries received 137.98 million barrels of crude feedstock, comprising 109.88 million barrels of domestic crude and 28.10 million barrels of imported seaborne crude. Domestic crude accounted for 79.64 percent of total refinery feedstock during the period, while imported crude made up 20.36 percent. Crude oil receipts by domestic refineries increased by 17 percent to 683,000 barrels per day in August, from 585,000 barrels per day in July.
Notably, the NNPCL-owned Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries recorded no production during August, according to the factsheet, the facilities have remained moribund despite repeated rehabilitation efforts by successive governments.
Modular Refineries’ Performance
According to the data, Edo refinery operated at an average capacity utilisation of 90.43 percent during the month, the highest among the modular facilities, while WalterSmith refinery recorded 64.77 percent utilisation and Aradel refinery operated at 58.77 percent. OPAC refinery recorded an average capacity utilisation of just 16.97 percent.
WalterSmith produced an average of 280,000 litres of diesel per day in August, Aradel refinery produced 310,000 litres of diesel daily, and OPAC produced 110,000 litres per day. Edo refinery, despite recording the highest utilisation rate among the facilities, produced an average of only 80,000 litres of diesel per day. Dupport refinery was shut down during the month under review. Combined, the modular refineries produced 790,000 litres of diesel per day.
