Uche Cecil Izuora
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise [CPPE], has raised some fundamental issues about continuous indiscriminate importation of petroleum products to Nigeria saying the policy is killing domestic industries.
In a policy brief titled, “Rising Petroleum-product Imports and the future of domestic refining’ the Chief Executive Officer, of the Center Dr. Muda Yusuf, explained that Petroleum-product imports should function as a transparent supply gap instrument not as a parallel market that displaces adequate domestic production.
Yusuf, is of the understanding that whereas local refiners can supply products of acceptable quality, quantity and competitive market price, indiscriminate import licensing weakens investment, jobs, foreign-exchange conservation, industrialisation and national energy security.
He stated that the Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market is at an important transition point and large-scale private refining has materially expanded domestic capacity and reduced the structural justification for petroleum-product import dependence.
Yusuf however observed that recent regulatory data show a sharp reversal whereby average Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or also called petrol imports increased from 5.9 million litres per day in May 2026 to 18.1 million litres per day in June a 206.8 per cent increase and rose further to 19.7 million litres per day in July.
This shows that imports consequently supplied 43.3 per cent of July PMS receipts, compared with 12.4 per cent in May.
“The concern is not with imports required to close a genuine and independently verified shortfall. Imports remain a legitimate contingency tool for refinery outages, seasonal demand spikes, quality gaps and strategic-stock replenishment. The policy concern arises where import permits are issued without a transparent demonstration that domestic refiners cannot meet the relevant demand at acceptable standards and competitive market terms.” he noted.
This distinction he said is central to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as Sections 317(8)–(9) contemplate petroleum-product import licensing in the context of a domestic supply shortfall while regulations discretion should therefore be exercised transparently, predictably and consistently with the country’s domestic-refining and industrialisation objectives.
He requested that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) should publish a product-by-product supply-gap determination before approving material import volumes; give qualified domestic refiners a fair opportunity to meet verified demand; restrict import permits to the quantified residual gap and a defined validity period; and publish monthly permit, landing and domestic-evacuation data.
According to him, This is not a call for monopoly or blanket protection. It is a call for a systematic, rules-based regulation that makes competition fair, protects consumers and supports domestic productive capacity.
The import surge occurred alongside evidence of substantial domestic refining capability.
Dangote Refinery reported a test run above 700,000 barrels per day in June, while NMDPRA had reported domestic refineries operating at 99.12 per cent average capacity utilisation in April. Nigeria’s seaborne petroleum-product exports have also risen strongly, indicating that aggregate refining capability is no longer the binding constraint it once was.
Yusuf, pointed out that a deregulated market does not imply regulatory indifference to the structure of supply and as such the regulator must reconcile consumer protection and supply security with the PIA’s domestic-supply framework.
“Where domestic supply is genuinely adequate, import permits can suppress refinery offtake, weaken utilisation rates and transfer demand, income and employment abroad.
“The burden of proof should be transparent
“A credible supply-gap assessment should disclose projected demand, verified domestic production and inventory, committed refinery deliveries, product specifications, logistics constraints and the precise residual volume requiring imports. Without this information, the market cannot determine whether permits address a real shortfall or merely expand import competition against available domestic output.” he said.
He stressed that the NMDPRA’s mandate requires more than licensing and supply monitoring. It should create predictable rules that encourage investment across refining, storage, pipelines, marine logistics and distribution. Frequent or unexplained reversals in import policy increase uncertainty and raise the risk premium on downstream investment.