Joseph Bakare
It has been revealed that large scale importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) still occur in Nigeria following inadequacy of in-country refining capacity.
This revelation made by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NDMPRA) shows that the country’s three operational refineries contribute less than 50 per cent of the nation’s daily petrol consumption.
According to the regulator, despite having refining capacity of 985,000 barrels per day, by the three operational refining plants, the significant shortfall is augmented with importation.
The Agency said Nigerians currently consume 50 million litres of petrol daily.
The NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, said this at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja.
He noted that the Agency, operating under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, has been granting import licences, emphasising that without these imports, there would have been a fuel shortage.
In 2024, two refineries, the 210,000 barrels per day capacity Port Harcourt refinery, and the 125,000bpd Warri refinery, operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), began operations after decades of being offline.
Earlier in the year, the 650,000bpd Dangote refinery also commenced operations to the delight of Nigerians.
Although officials of these refineries have claimed that the facilities were working at advanced levels of production supplying products to Nigerians, Ahmed, represented by the Executive Director, Distribution System, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure, Ogbugo Ukoha, indicated the country was still heavily dependent on petrol imports with over 50 per cent coming in from foreign countries.
He said this is despite the national consumption of the product reducing from an average of 66 million litres per day to 50m/d following the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Farouk, noted that none of the owners of these refineries have imported petroleum products this year.
He said, “All of us experienced a Yuletide free of petrol scarcity. And let me just reconfirm that from year to year, we saw an increase in the demand for PMS from 2021, 2022, up to 2023, just before the current administration came in. The daily PMS supply sufficiency was always in excess of 60 million per day.
“Averaging about 66 million a day for PMS. And following Mr President’s withdrawal of subsidy, the announcement of May 29, 2023, we immediately saw a steep decline in consumption. And between then and as we speak, we have continued to do plus or minus 50 million litres a day. Of these 50 million litres averaging for each day, less than 50 per cent of that is contributed by domestic refineries. And so the shortfall by the PIA is sourced by way of imports.”
“Let me also say that none of the oil marketing companies, the companies that own refineries in the country for this year have imported any PMS. The other OMCs are the ones that are importing the shortfall. And if we do nothing to bridge that shortfall, we will have scarcity in our hands.
“And that’s something that the regulator is mindful of, to ensure that there is sufficient supply of petroleum products across the country. So just for clarity, what I am saying is that the contribution of local refineries towards sufficiency is less than 50 per cent. That is between January and February 2025, is less than 50 per cent of what we require daily. And that shortfall is sourced by way of imports.
“Even though none of the OMCs that own the local refineries have imported PMS this year, we are also minded that if we find ourselves in the situation that the PIA described where you have to resort to the supplier of last resort, we will go to them and require them to bridge the gap. Never mind the fact that every OMC has a right to apply to the authority.”
The NMDPRA said all the petroleum products imported to the country this year are of standard quality.
He said the NMDPRA always insists that all petroleum products meet the specifications of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
According to him, the authority does not permit the distribution of products that fall short of quality standards.
Ukoha said some people have been releasing bogus claims concerning product quality on social media.
“People who dabble within the social media space must be reminded that it is disrespectful if you imagine that Nigerians are gullible,” he stated.