The Dangote Petroleum Refinery ended August with 630.9 million litres of refined petroleum products in storage, while Nigeria recorded a decline in petrol imports during the month, according to data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The refinery’s stock consisted of 360.4 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, 137.2 million litres of diesel and 133.3 million litres of aviation fuel.
NMDPRA data showed that average daily petrol imports dropped by 26 per cent, from 19.7 million litres in July to 14.6 million litres in August.
At the same time, petrol supplied from domestic sources increased by 39 per cent, rising from 25.8 million litres per day in July to 35.9 million litres in August. This lifted total daily petrol receipts by 11 per cent to 50.5 million litres.
The Dangote refinery accounted for about 71 per cent of the country’s petrol receipts during the month, supplying nearly 36 million litres to the domestic market each day.
The refinery produced an average of 41.94 million litres of petrol daily in August, of which 35.87 million litres went to the Nigerian market while 9.73 million litres were exported each day. Its average capacity utilisation reached 105.21 per cent.
The decline in imports was also recorded in diesel. Daily diesel imports fell by 84 per cent, from 7.9 million litres in July to 1.3 million litres in August.
Meanwhile, petrol consumption dropped by 14 per cent, from 48.3 million litres per day in July to 41.5 million litres in August, based on volumes transported into the domestic market.
The regulator also reported an improvement in fuel stock levels. Petrol stock sufficiency increased from 22.4 days in July to 22.9 days in August, while diesel stock coverage rose from 46.5 days to 51.6 days.
Crude oil supplied to local refineries also increased by 17 per cent during the month, reaching 683,000 barrels per day from 585,000 barrels per day in July.
Between January and August, domestic refineries received 137.98 million barrels of crude, with 109.88 million barrels sourced locally and 28.10 million barrels imported. Domestic crude therefore made up 79.64 per cent of refinery feedstock during the period.
Despite the increase in domestic refining, the three state-owned refineries operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna recorded no production in August.
The figures come after the Dangote refinery raised concerns about continued petrol imports despite its growing domestic supply. The refinery had previously warned that excess petrol stocks could be exported if imported products continued entering the Nigerian market in significant volumes.
It said the uncertainty surrounding future import volumes made it difficult to plan its inventory and maintain large quantities of fuel in storage.
According to the refinery, exporting surplus products would be a response to excess inventory rather than an inability to meet domestic petrol demand.
