The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has reported a 67% decline in imports of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from 44.6 million litres per day in August 2024 to just 14.7 million litres per day by April 13, 2025. This significant drop of nearly 30 million litres marks a major shift in the country’s fuel supply dynamics.
NMDPRA’s Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed, made the announcement during the sixth edition of the Meet-the-Press briefing series, organised by the Presidential Communications Team at Aso Rock Villa in Abuja on Tuesday. Ahmed attributed the sharp reduction in imports to the increasing contribution of domestic refineries and improvements in the country’s local fuel supply.
“Local supply has surged by an impressive 670% in the same period,” Ahmed revealed, highlighting the country’s growing self-reliance in fuel production. Local plants, which barely contributed to the market in August 2024, delivered 26.2 million litres per day in early April 2025—a dramatic increase from the 3.4 million litres recorded in September 2024, the first month with measurable output.
The CEO credited the rise in local supply to two key developments: the phased restart of the Port Harcourt Refining Company in late November 2024 and the steady contribution from modular refineries. These refiners have significantly bolstered the country’s ability to meet domestic fuel demand and reduce reliance on imports.
However, despite these gains, Nigeria’s combined supply of petrol crossed the government’s consumption benchmark of 50 million litres per day only twice in the past eight months: once in November 2024 (with 56 million litres) and again in February 2025 (with 52.3 million litres). In March 2025, the supply dipped slightly to 51.5 million litres, and in the first half of April, it remained short at 40.9 million litres.
Ahmed explained that the NMDPRA grants import licences based on the country’s fuel supply requirements. He clarified that the Authority’s role is to manage the balance between local refining capacity and the need for imports to ensure the smooth operation of the national fuel supply chain.
Despite the challenges in hitting the consumption target consistently, the recent improvements in local refining point to a positive shift for Nigeria’s petroleum sector, suggesting that the country could be on track to reduce its dependence on fuel imports in the near future.
