The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has suspended the issuance of new petrol import licences, citing improved local production that is currently meeting domestic supply needs.
The regulator disclosed this in its February 2026 “State of the Midstream and Downstream Fact Sheet,” which showed that no new import licences were granted during the month.
According to the report, the Dangote refinery supplied an average of 36.5 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, per day to the domestic market in February. However, imports averaging 3 million litres per day—the lowest level recorded in the past year—were still supplied to the market.
Overall petrol supply for February stood at 39.6 million litres per day, representing a shortfall of 25.4 million litrescompared to the 64.9 million litres supplied daily in January.
The NMDPRA attributed the decline in supply largely to reduced imports.
“PMS supply in February 2026 reduced by 25.4 ML/D due to significant drop in imports,” the authority said.
Reacting to the development, George Ene-Ita, spokesperson for the NMDPRA, said the regulator halted new import licences because local production currently meets domestic consumption levels.
“At this moment, there is no need to import because local production is meeting supply. When there is a shortfall, we will issue licensing to buffer local production,” Ene-Ita said.
He explained that the move aligns with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which allows petrol imports only when domestic supply is insufficient.
“What is happening is not strange. If you go by the dictates of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), it says importation of PMS would be for buffering domestic needs,” he said.
“If there is a shortfall, it opens the need for importation. If national production meets consumption, there is no need to import.”
In January 2025, the NMDPRA, under its previous leadership, had defended the issuance of import licences, stating that the Dangote refinery at the time was unable to meet the country’s petrol demand.
The regulator also provided updates on the operational status of government refineries.
The Port Harcourt refinery remained shut in February. However, diesel produced before its shutdown was still being evacuated, averaging 392,000 litres per day during the month.
The Kaduna refinery also remained closed, though the NMDPRA said 27,000 litres of diesel per day were trucked out to the domestic market from existing stocks.
Meanwhile, the Warri refinery remained inactive with no evacuation activities recorded during the period.
Despite the shutdown of the major refineries, three modular refineries — Waltersmith, Edo, and Aradel — supplied an average of 368,000 litres of diesel per day in February.
The regulator added that hydrocarbon introduction at the Waltersmith refinery is still ongoing.
Data from the fact sheet showed that Nigeria’s petrol consumption benchmark stands at 50 million litres per day, while actual supply averaged 56.9 million litres daily.
The NMDPRA also reported that domestic supply averaged 24.4 million litres of diesel per day and 4.77 billion standard cubic feet (scf) of natural gas daily.
According to the authority, diesel consumption averaged 20.3 million litres per day, while aviation fuel consumption stood at 2.9 million litres daily.
Boluwatife Enome
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