The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, says the country’s petrol imports plunged by 67% over the past eight months, falling from 44.6 million litres per day in August 2024 to just 14.7 million litres as of April 13, 2025. This means 33% of petrol used in the country is imported refined product.
NMDPRA Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed, at a briefing with State House correspondents attributed the sharp decline in imports to a significant boost in local production.
According to him, domestic supply rose by 67% within the same period, from 3.4 million litres per day in September 2024 to 26.2 million litres per day in early April 2025.
Despite the improvements, Ahmed noted that combined petrol supply has only surpassed the government’s 50 million litres per day consumption benchmark twice since August, first in November (56 million litres) and again in February (52.3 million litres).
In March, supply slightly dipped below the target at 51.5 million litres per day, and has remained below that mark in April, averaging 40.9 million litres so far.
Meanwhile, despite the removal of fuel subsidy in May 2023, petrol prices in Nigeria remain cheaper than those in several West African countries.
This is according to data from the NMDPRA which compared petrol prices across nine African countries, based on crude oil priced at $66.85 per barrel and gasoline at $659.75 per metric ton.
