Daily petrol imports fall to 14.6 million litres in August as diesel imports plunge and Dangote Refinery operates above 100% capacity….
Nigeria’s reliance on imported petrol continued to ease in August, with average daily imports falling by 26 per cent to 14.6 million litres from 19.7 million litres recorded in July.
The latest figures were disclosed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in its August 2026 Factsheet, which tracks production, imports, domestic receipts, exports and petroleum product inventories.
The decline in petrol imports came alongside increased activity by domestic refineries, led by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which recorded average capacity utilisation above 100 per cent during the month.
According to the NMDPRA data, average daily diesel imports dropped to 1.3 million litres in August from 7.9 million litres in July.
Liquefied petroleum gas imports, however, moved in the opposite direction, rising to 1.3 million litres per day from 0.9 million litres in July.
Across the major petroleum products, average daily receipts stood at 50.5 million litres for petrol, 14.5 million litres for diesel and 3.1 million litres for aviation fuel.
LPG receipts averaged 4.3 kilotonnes per day during the month.
Dangote Refinery runs above rated capacity
The Dangote Refinery emerged as a major contributor to domestic refined product supply in August, recording average capacity utilisation of 105.21 per cent.
The refinery produced an average of 41.94 million litres of petrol per day, alongside 18.01 million litres of diesel and 24.48 million litres of aviation fuel.
For petrol, domestic receipts from the refinery averaged 35.87 million litres per day, while exports stood at 9.73 million litres.
The refinery ended the month with 360.4 million litres of petrol in stock.
Its diesel operations also recorded substantial volumes, with daily receipts averaging 12.37 million litres.
Diesel exports stood at 8.75 million litres per day, while closing stock was recorded at 137.2 million litres.
In the aviation fuel segment, the refinery exported an average of 21.30 million litres daily, compared with domestic receipts of 3.07 million litres.
Its aviation fuel closing stock stood at 133.3 million litres at the end of August.
While the Dangote facility maintained high utilisation, three government-owned refineries recorded no production during the month.
The NMDPRA factsheet showed that the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries produced no refined petroleum products in August.
Output from some modular refineries was also recorded during the period.
WalterSmith Refinery operated at an average capacity utilisation of 64.77 per cent, while Edo Refinery recorded 90.43 per cent.
Aradel Refinery operated at 58.77 per cent, while OPAC recorded 16.97 per cent utilisation.
WalterSmith produced an average of 0.28 million litres of diesel daily, while Edo Refinery produced 0.08 million litres.
Aradel recorded daily diesel production of 0.31 million litres, compared with 0.11 million litres from OPAC.
The latest NMDPRA figures come against the backdrop of major changes in Nigeria’s petroleum import and refining landscape.
Nigeria’s crude oil production remained above 1.5 million barrels per day for the third consecutive month in July 2026, although output declined compared with the previous month.
Despite the reduction in physical petrol imports recorded in August, the country’s import bill had risen sharply earlier in the year.
Nigeria spent N952.15 billion on petrol imports in the second quarter of 2026, representing a 989.4 per cent increase from the N87.40 billion recorded in the first quarter.
The country’s petrol import bill had previously declined to $10 billion in 2025 from $14.06 billion in 2024, as domestic refining capacity expanded.
The August figures point to another shift in the supply mix, with imported petrol volumes declining while domestic refineries, particularly the Dangote Refinery, continue to account for a larger share of refined petroleum products available in the Nigerian market.
