The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has said that local refineries have contributed less than 50% of local consumption of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in Nigeria since January 2025.
This was disclosed by the Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure at the NMDPRA, Ogbugo Ukoha, on Wednesday.
Ukoha said Nigeria currently consumes about 50 million litres of PMS per day, but the agency has to grant import licenses to make up for the shortfall from local refineries.
He said the continued importation of petrol helped prevent scarcity in the Yuletide season.
He said: “All of us have experienced a yuletide free from any scarcity. Let me reconfirm that from year to year, we saw an increase in the demand for PMS by 2021, 2022 up to 2023, and just before the current administration came in, the daily PMS supply sufficiency was always more than 60 million, averaging about 66 million a day for PMS.
“Following Mr. President’s withdrawal of subsidy, the announcement on May 29, 2023, we immediately saw a steep decline in consumption, and between then and as we speak, we’ve continued to do plus or minus 50 millioliterses. That’s a considerable reduction in volumes.
“Of these 50 million liters, averaging for each day, less than 50 per cent of that is contributed by domestic refinement. and so the shortfall, in accordance with the PIA, is sourced by way of imports.
“So, just for clarity, the contribution of local refineries towards sufficiency is less than 50 per cent currently between January and February 2025. It is less than 50 per cent of what we require daily, and that shortfall is sourced by way of imports.”
NMDPRA pledges support for local refiners
Meanwhile, Ukoha said the agency supports the growth of local refineries to help them boost their capacity.
He said, however, oil marketers have a right to apply for import licenses.
“As a regulator, we’re working very hard in compliance with the presidential and statutory mandates we have to support the local refineries, to build capacity to the point that Nigerians will have sufficient products, and not just quality, but pricing is also done in a transparent, competitive and fair way.
“That’s the priority we have as the regulator, and that is what we concern ourselves with every day.
“Every OMC has a right to apply to the authority. We consider the application; we will grant them the necessary permit to bridge that shortfall.”
He added that the agency is committed to ensuring high-quality standards in all petroleum products sold and consumed in Nigeria.
He urged Nigerians to disregard claims that substandard fuels are imported into or sold in Nigeria.
