Nigeria spent ₦930b on fuel importation in February despite local refining

Nigeria spent a staggering ₦930 billion on fuel imports in February 2025, despite increased output from local refineries, raising concerns about the continued reliance on foreign petroleum products.

Official data shows that oil marketers, licensed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), imported 701.75 million litres of petrol and 265.88 million litres of diesel in February alone.

This follows an even larger trend, with ₦5.5 trillion spent on fuel imports between October 2024 and January 2025.

The Executive Director of Distribution, Systems, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure at NMDPRA, Ogbugo Ukoha, defended the continued importation, stating that local refineries currently meet less than half of the country’s daily fuel consumption.

“Of these 50 million litres averaging for each day, less than 50 per cent of that is contributed by domestic refineries,” Ukoha explained. “The shortfall, in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), is sourced by way of imports.”

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However, this dependence on foreign fuel persists despite the increasing refining capacity of local plants, including the Dangote Refinery and the recently revived Port Harcourt and Warri refineries. Dangote Refinery alone reportedly holds over 500 million litres of petrol and N600 billion worth of petroleum products in stock.

Industry experts warn that Nigeria’s sustained fuel imports could have serious economic implications, particularly for the stability of the naira. Business consultant Dan Kunle argued that the reliance on dollar-denominated fuel imports could erode recent gains in foreign exchange reserves.

“Despite positive developments in local refining, structural bottlenecks such as logistics challenges, production scale-up issues, and supply chain inefficiencies continue to undermine the industry,” Kunle said.