By Jamiu Yusuf
ABUJA: Despite the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s capacity to fully meet domestic petrol demand, Nigeria imported nearly seven out of every ten litres of fuel consumed in June 2025, according to official data.
Figures from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority NMDPRA show that local refineries supplied only 30.79% of the Premium Motor Spirit PMS used nationwide during the month, with imports accounting for a staggering 69.21%.
The report, submitted to the Federation Revenue Reconciliation Committee FAAC on July 10 and obtained by journalists on Tuesday night, revealed that Nigeria consumed an average of 49.277 million litres of petrol daily in June. Of this, just 15.172 million litres came from domestic refineries, while 34.104 million litres were brought in from abroad.
In total, the country supplied 1.478 billion litres of petrol in June, down 16.42% from 1.768 billion litres in May. Truck-out volumes also dipped to 1.44 billion litres from 1.678 billion litres in the previous month.
The heavy reliance on imports comes despite assurances from Dangote Group that its massive refinery can meet all of Nigeria’s fuel needs.
Dangote himself disclosed in Abuja that the Nigerian market consumes barely 30% of the refinery’s petrol output, forcing the company to export over one million tonnes in less than two months.
He also accused some marketers of conspiring to import substandard fuel into the country, warning that such practices undermine local refining efforts.
Dangote said the Nigerian market currently consumes only about 30 percent of the refinery’s petrol output.
“Today, Nigeria has actually become a net exporter of refined products. Before I came to the podium, I asked my people how many tonnes of PMS we have exported. From the beginning of June to date, we have exported about one million tonnes of PMS within the last 50 days,” he stated.
