…Says local production meets domestic demand
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) suspended the issuance of new import licences in February.
The NMDPRA announced the development in its February 2026 ‘State of the Midstream and Downstream Fact Sheet’.
According to the data, no import licences were issued in February while Dangote refinery supplied an average of 36.5 million litres of petrol daily to the domestic market.
However, imports averaging 3 million litres per day — the lowest level in a year — were still supplied to the market.
The total petrol supply in February (39.6 million litres per day) represents a shortfall of 25.4 million litres — compared to the average daily supply of 64.9 million litres in January.
“PMS Supply in February 2026 reduced by 25.4 ML/D due to significant drop in imports,” NMDPRA said.
Commenting on the development, George Ene-Ita, NMDPRA spokesperson, told TheCable that authority has not issued new import licences, as local production is currently sufficient to meet domestic supply needs.
“At this moment, there is no need to import because local production is meeting supply. When there is a shortfall, we will issue licensing to buffer local production,” he said.
“What is happening is not strange. If you go by the dictates of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), it says importation of PMS would be for buffering domestic needs.
“If there is a shortfall, it opens the need for importation. If national production meets consumption, there is no need to import.”
In January 2025, the NMDPRA, under its former leadership, defended the issuance of import licences, saying the Dangote refinery was unable to meet demands.
UPDATE ON REFINERIES
The regulator said the Port Harcourt refinery remained shut in February, although evacuation of diesel produced while it was operational averaged 392,000 litres per day in the month.
The NMDPRA said the Kaduna refinery also remained shut down.
Despite the closure, the regulator said diesel averaging 27,000 litres per day “was trucked out to the domestic market”.
However, the Warri refinery remained shut, with no evacuation activities recorded during the month.
NMDPRA said three modular refineries — Waltersmith, Edo, and Aradel refineries — supplied an average of 368,000 million litres per day of diesel in the month.
The regulator added that the introduction of hydrocarbons at Waltersmith is still ongoing.
Furthermore, the data showed that while the country’s petrol consumption benchmark is 50 million litres per day, supply averaged 56.9 million litres daily.
The authority also reported an average daily domestic supply of 24.4 million litres of diesel and 4.77 billion standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas.
According to NMDPRA, diesel consumption averaged 20.3 million litres per day, while aviation fuel consumption stood at 2.9 million litres daily.
SOURCE: TheCable
