New data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) shows that oil marketers have largely abandoned local refineries in favour of importing refined petroleum products, with imports meeting 71.38% of Nigeria’s petrol demand in May and June 2025.
Only 28.62% of the country’s petrol supply during the period came from the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, despite expectations that local refineries would significantly reduce reliance on foreign fuel. This trend means marketers are still using Nigeria’s limited foreign exchange to import fuel rather than sourcing locally.
The figures were revealed in a presentation by NMDPRA to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for June 2025, obtained on Sunday.
A breakdown of the data shows that out of 3.25 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) consumed in May and June, 2.32 billion litres were imported, while only 927 million litres were produced locally.
In June alone, imports accounted for 1.023 billion litres (34.10 million litres daily), compared to 455 million litres (15.2 million litres daily) from local refining. In May, 1.297 billion litres were imported (43.22 million litres per day), while local refineries supplied 472 million litres (15.74 million litres daily).
