The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has suspended the issuance of new petrol import licences, citing improved domestic production that is now meeting Nigeria’s supply needs.
The development was disclosed in the regulator’s February 2026 State of the Midstream and Downstream Fact Sheet, which indicated 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, to the domestic market daily in February.
However, imports averaging about three 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 drop of 25.4 million litres compared with the 64.9 million litres supplied daily in January.
The NMDPRA attributed the decline largely to a reduction in 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, NMDPRA spokesperson George Ene-Ita said the regulator halted the issuance of new import licences because domestic production currently meets national 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 decision aligns with provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which permits petrol imports only when domestic supply falls short of demand.
“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, noting that the Dangote refinery was then unable to meet Nigeria’s petrol demand.
The regulator also provided updates on the operational status of government-owned refineries.
The Port Harcourt Refinery remained shut in February, although diesel produced before its shutdown continued to be evacuated at an average of 392,000 litres per day.
Similarly, the Kaduna Refinery remained closed, but 27,000 litres of diesel per day were trucked to the domestic market from existing stockpiles.
The Warri Refinery also remained inactive, with no evacuation activities recorded during the period.
Despite the shutdown of the major refineries, three modular refineries—Waltersmith Refinery, Edo Refinery and Aradel Refinery—supplied an average of 368,000 litres of diesel per day in February.
The authority 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 about 50 million litres per day, while actual supply averaged 56.9 million litres daily.
The NMDPRA further reported that domestic supply averaged 24.4 million litres of diesel per day and 4.77 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas daily.
According to the authority, diesel consumption averaged 20.3 million litres per day, while aviation fuel consumption stood at about 2.9 million litres daily.
