Nigeria records significant drop in petrol imports, says NMDPRA
Dangote Petroleum Refinery, yesterday, reduced the gantry price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N865 to N835 per litre.
The new pricing, which marks the second reduction in less than a week, came as the facility refined about 3.5 billion litres of PMS between September 2024 and April 2025, which is 55 per cent of the country’s 50 million litres daily need.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said the country significantly reduced the importation of PMS.
Before the coming of Dangote’s refinery, the country was importing almost 100 per cent of its PMS needs.
This latest adjustment, which has been helping the refiner gain market share above dominant players, especially the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), brings pump prices at Dangote partner retail stations down across the country. In Lagos, outlets such as MRS, Ardova (AP), Heyden, Optima Energy, Hyde, and Tecno Oil would dispense petrol at N890 per litre, a drop from N920.
In other South West states, the price will be N900, down from N930. In the North West and North Central regions, petrol will retail at N910, reduced from N940, while the South East, South South and North East will see a new price of N920 per litre, down from N950.
The refinery said the reduction reflected its ongoing commitment to providing Nigerians with high-quality refined products at affordable prices, while working with partners to ensure the changes were implemented uniformly across the country.
Dangote Refinery began full operation on September 1, 2024 and has since refined 3.57 billion litres of petrol.
DURING the Meet-the-Press briefing series organised by the Presidential Communications Team (PTC) at the State House, Abuja, yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, said the county’s PMS daily importation had dropped from 44.6 million litres in August 2024 to 14.7 million as of April 13.
He attributed the 30-million-litre drop in imports to increased contributions from local refineries.
Ahmed also disclosed that local production of petrol surged by 670 per cent during the same period. He credited the rise to the gradual restart of the Port Harcourt Refining Company in November 2024, along with added output from modular refineries across the country.
He stated: “After contributing virtually nothing in August 2024, local plants delivered 26.2 million litres per day early April, a jump from the 3.4 million litres recorded in September 2024, which was the first month with measurable output.”
The CEO also stressed that local council authorities and international oil companies (IOCs), as well as indigenous companies, must take responsibility in ensuring that oil assets are protected and maintained.
“Until we all commit to safeguarding these national assets, we should stop pointing fingers,” he added.
Ahmed reaffirmed NMDPRA’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the midstream and downstream sectors.
