Nigeria’s daily petrol imports fell by 58.9 per cent between January and September 2026, as domestic refineries continued to account for a larger share of supply, although the volume of petrol received into the country remained below consumption in September.
This was as the country received an average of 105.9 million litres of imported petrol per day in total across the nine months from January to September 2026.
Using the number of calendar days in each month, Nigeria received an estimated 3.24 billion litres of imported petrol between January and September 2026. This was calculated by multiplying each month’s reported daily import average by the number of days in that month. The estimate is based on rounded NMDPRA figures and may differ slightly from the regulator’s underlying totals.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s September fact sheet released on Thursday showed that petrol imports declined from 24.8 million litres per day in January to 10.2 million litres per day in September.
This represented a reduction of 14.6 million litres per day, or 58.9 per cent, in the daily average volume of imported petrol received over the period.
The decline occurred alongside a significant increase in domestic supply between September 2025 and September 2026, reflecting the growing contribution of local refining to Nigeria’s petrol market.
According to the NMDPRA data, domestic petrol receipts rose from 17.6 million litres per day in September 2025 to 28.5 million litres per day in September 2026, representing an increase of 61.9 per cent.
Consequently, locally supplied petrol accounted for 73.6 per cent of the 38.7 million litres received daily in September, while imports contributed 26.4 per cent.
The September figures, however, showed that the decline in imports was not matched by a corresponding increase in overall petrol supply, as total receipts fell by 23.4 per cent from 50.5 million litres per day in August.
The NMDPRA attributed the September decline to reductions in both domestic supply and imports, noting that approved import permit volumes were being exhausted.
Domestic petrol receipts fell by 20.6 per cent from 35.9 million litres per day in August to 28.5 million litres in September. Imported supplies declined by 30.1 per cent from 14.6 million litres to 10.2 million litres daily.
The combined reduction of 11.8 million litres per day in receipts came as petrol consumption increased.
The regulator reported that daily petrol consumption rose by seven per cent from 41.5 million litres in August to 44.4 million litres in September.
This left a gap of 5.7 million litres per day between reported petrol receipts and consumption in September, with daily receipts covering about 87.2 per cent of reported consumption.
The development also affected stock sufficiency. Petrol stock cover increased slightly from 22.9 days in August to 23.9 days in September, but remained below the 30-day threshold used by the regulator.
The stock cover represented an improvement of 4.4 per cent over August, although the country still had about six days less than the benchmark.
The figures suggest that the reduction in imports has not, by itself, eliminated supply pressures. Sustaining lower import dependence will require domestic refineries to provide sufficient and consistent volumes to meet consumption.
A review of the monthly data from January to September showed that petrol imports fluctuated considerably during the period.
Imported petrol receipts fell from 24.8 million litres per day in January to 3.0 million litres in February, before rising to 5.9 million litres in March. They dropped to 3.7 million litres in April, increased to 5.9 million litres in May and then climbed sharply to 18.1 million litres in June.
Imports rose further to 19.7 million litres per day in July before falling to 14.6 million litres in August and 10.2 million litres in September.
The July figure was the highest monthly import receipt since January, while September’s volume was 48.2 per cent below July’s level.
Domestic supplies also varied during the nine-month period. They rose from 40.1 million litres per day in January to 40.7 million litres in April and peaked at 41.5 million litres in May, before falling to 32.5 million litres in June and 25.8 million litres in July.
Domestic receipts recovered to 35.9 million litres daily in August before declining to 28.5 million litres in September.