Consumption falls 8.5m litres short of daily benchmark

Nigeria’s domestic petrol supply increased by 39 per cent in August, but the country’s stock cover remained 7.1 days below the 30-day benchmark, while all three Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) refineries were listed as not producing.

This is according to the latest figures from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) August 2026 factsheet released yesterday. It showed that domestic petrol receipts rose from 25.8 million litres per day in July to 35.9 million litres per day in August, while imports fell from 19.7 million litres per day to 14.6 million litres per day.

Over the same period, Dangote Refinery recorded average capacity utilisation of 105.21 per cent, producing 41.94 million litres of petrol daily.

However, the increase in domestic receipts did not translate into stock levels meeting the regulatory benchmark as petrol stock sufficiency stood at 22.9 days, against the required 30 days, leaving a deficit of 7.1 days.

These expose a contrast in the country’s downstream petroleum market where domestic petrol receipts increased and imports declined, but national stocks remained below the prescribed threshold, with the state-owned refineries still shut down.

The factsheet listed the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries under NNPCL as “Not producing,” underscoring their continued absence from domestic refining output in the period covered by the report.

Dangote Refinery across three major products produced an average of 41.94 million litres of petrol per day, with domestic receipts of 35.87 million litres per day, exports of 9.73 million litres per day and closing stock of 360.4 million litres as of August 31, 2026.

For automotive gas oil, commonly known as diesel, the refinery recorded production of 18.01 million litres per day, domestic receipts of 12.37 million litres per day, exports of 8.75 million litres per day and closing stock of 137.2 million litres.

Its aviation fuel production stood at 24.48 million litres per day, while domestic receipts were 3.07 million litres per day. Exports reached 21.30 million litres per day, with closing stock of 133.3 million litres at the end of August.

The figures provide a broader picture of the refinery’s role in domestic supply and exports, even as the national petrol stock position remained below the benchmark.

The NMDPRA’s monthly performance analysis showed that actual petrol consumption, measured by volumes trucked out into the domestic market, stood at 41.5 million litres per day in August, against a daily demand benchmark of 50 million litres.

This represented a shortfall of 8.5 million litres per day, or 17 per cent, with petrol coverage put at 83 per cent. The consumption figures offered another indication of the gap between the benchmark used by the authority and the volume supplied into the domestic market. The factsheet, however, does not establish that the difference was caused solely by insufficient refining output or imports.

For diesel, actual consumption stood at 14.3 million litres per day, exceeding the 14 million litres daily benchmark by 0.3 million litres, or 2.1 per cent. Coverage was recorded at 102.1 per cent.

Aviation fuel consumption was 2.8 million litres per day against a benchmark of three million litres, giving coverage of 93.3 per cent and a shortfall of 0.2 million litres per day.

Cooking gas recorded the opposite trend. LPG consumption stood at 4.8 kilotonnes per day, compared with a benchmark of 3.9 kilotonnes, representing a surplus of 0.9 kilotonnes per day and coverage of 123.1 per cent.

The authority’s strategic inventory assessment placed petrol stock sufficiency at 22.9 days and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at 17.2 days, both below the required 30-day threshold.

While petrol had a deficit of 7.1 days, LPG was 12.8 days below the benchmark. Diesel stocks, by contrast, were sufficient for 51.6 days, representing a surplus of 21.6 days above the threshold. Aviation fuel stocks covered 82.3 days, or 52.3 days above the benchmark.

The data showed that stock availability varied significantly across petroleum products, with petrol and cooking gas below the stipulated threshold while diesel and aviation fuel recorded surpluses.

The authority stated that the stock sufficiency figures include stocks held under the Domestic Refinery Petroleum Products regime (DPRP). It also notes that consumption is calculated from volumes trucked out into the domestic market, while LPG figures include propane.