Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The federal government, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria increased crude oil supply to domestic refineries, led by the Dangote Refinery, by over 103 per cent between January and April 2026, THISDAY has learnt.
An analysis of the data released by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) yesterday showed that crude supplied locally to domestic refineries rose from 8.83 million barrels in January to 17.96 million barrels in April, reflecting a rise of 103.4 per cent.
In contrast, imported crude and feedstock supplied to the refineries dropped from 9.43 million barrels in March to just 0.41 million barrels in April, representing a decline of approximately 95.6 per cent within the period.
The data underscored a major shift in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector as the Dangote refinery increasingly relies on locally supplied crude oil for the production of refined petroleum products, especially Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol.
Overall crude receipts by domestic refineries stood at 20.92 million barrels in March before declining to 18.37 million barrels in April. However, the structure of refinery feedstock changed significantly during the four-month period.
The NMDPRA data also showed that local supply of petrol rose substantially during the period, reflecting increased production from the Dangote refinery, currently the only refinery producing PMS in Nigeria.
According to the report, domestic petrol supply rose from 34.2 million litres per day in March to 40.7 million litres per day in April, indicating an increase of approximately 19 per cent. At the same time, imported petrol products volumes declined from 5.9 million litres daily in January to 3.7 million litres daily in April, representing a drop of about 37.3 per cent.
The figures indicated that locally refined petrol is steadily displacing imported fuel in the Nigerian market as output from the Dangote refinery expands.
The NMDPRA data disclosed that average refinery capacity utilisation by the Dangote refinery reached 99.12 per cent in April, achieving 100 per cent utilisation “for most of the days in April.”
The sharp increase in crude allocation to domestic refineries reflected improved collaboration among upstream producers, regulators and refiners following persistent concerns over inadequate crude supply for local processing.
The increase in local refining came amid elevated global crude prices triggered by geopolitical tensions involving Iran and the United States.
According to the NMDPRA report, dated Brent crude averaged $120.55 per barrel in April, while international petrol prices rose to $1,074.97 per metric tonne during the month. The increase in global oil prices translated into higher domestic petrol prices across the country despite the rise in local refining activity.
The report showed that average actual pump prices stood at N1,271.50 per litre in Lagos, N1,326 per litre in Abuja, N1,340 in Kano and N1,371.50 in Maiduguri during April. Maximum retail prices reached N1,400 per litre in Sokoto and N1,413 per litre in Maiduguri.
Despite the increase in fuel prices, petrol demand remained relatively resilient. The NMDPRA stated that average daily petrol truck-out into the domestic market stood at 51.1 million litres in April, slightly above the agency’s benchmark national consumption estimate of 50 million litres per day.
Petrol production averaged 53.6 million litres daily during the month, while domestic PMS supply stood at 40.7 million litres daily. Besides, diesel production averaged 23.6 million litres per day, while aviation fuel production stood at 22.9 million litres daily.
Nigeria’s fuel reserve position also remained stable during the period despite volatility in international oil markets. According to the report, the country maintained average stock sufficiency levels of 18 days for petrol, 39 days for diesel and 70 days for aviation fuel in April.
The report further showed that the three modular refineries currently in operation, namely WalterSmith Refinery, Edo Refinery and Aradel Holdings continued to produce diesel during the month.
Collectively, the modular refineries supplied an average of 0.559 million litres of diesel daily in April. WalterSmith operated at 56.14 per cent capacity utilisation and produced 0.250 million litres of diesel daily, while Edo Refinery achieved 79.20 per cent utilisation with output of 0.086 million litres daily. Aradel operated at 33.95 per cent utilisation with production of 0.181 million litres daily.
In the gas sector, total average gas supply stood at 5.142 billion standard cubic feet per day (Bscf/d) in April. Out of the volume, 2.012 Bscf/d was supplied to the domestic market. Also, gas supplied to the power sector averaged 0.549 Bscf/d, while commercial consumers utilised 0.671 Bscf/d and gas-based industries consumed 0.468 Bscf/d.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply averaged 4,545 metric tonnes daily, while consumption stood at 4,818 metric tonnes daily. Retail LPG prices ranged between N1,100 and N1,450 per kilogramme during the period.
