Nigeria’s fuel usage has decreased to 50 million litres per day, with half of that amount coming from domestic refineries, the Federal Government revealed on Wednesday to BrandSpur Nigeria news.
According to the government, imports account for the remaining half, it made clear that the imports had nothing to do with any of the indigenous refining enterprises.
Following a stakeholder meeting in Abuja, Mr. Ogbugo Ukoha, Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, or NMDPRA, told BrandSpur reporters that importing fuel was required to prevent shortages from reoccurring in the downstream sector.
He went on to say: “Let me speak a little bit about supply. All of us have experienced a yuletide free of any scarcity, and let me just reconfirm that from year to year, we saw an increase in the demand for PMS by 2021, 2022 up to 2023, just before the current administration came in. The daily PMS supply sufficiency was always more than 60 million, in fact averaging about 66 million a day for PMS. And following Mr. President’s withdrawal of subsidy, the announcement on May 29th, 2023, we immediately saw a steep decline in consumption and between then and as we speak, we’ve continued to do plus or minus 50 million.
“Of these 50 million litres averaging for each day, less than 50% of that is contributed by domestic refineries, and so the shortfall in accordance with the PIA (Petroleum Industry Act) is sourced by way of imports,” he added.
Continuing, Ukoha revealed that as of March 1, 2025, the Authority had prohibited tankers with a capacity of 60,000 litres from delivering fuel and other petroleum products. Despite truck owners’ complaints, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, or NMDPRA, enforced the prohibition.
Last week, the National Association of Road Transport Owners, or NARTO, issued a warning, stating that the prohibition would cost them more than N300 billion, which they had already spent on purchasing more than 2,000 trucks with a capacity of 60,000 litres, which are now used to transport petroleum products around the nation.
According to Ukoha, some of the recent increase in gasoline tanker fires in the nation was caused by tankers having a 60,000-liter capacity. He added that the condition of Nigerian roads was significantly impacted by the high-calibre tankers. He revealed: “The breaking news about that today is that in today’s meeting comprising DSS, FEMA, Federal Fire Service, Road Safety, NATO, NUPENG, MEMAN, PETROAN, IPMAN, DAPMAN, SON, ONSA, it was decided that beginning 1st March, any truck with an axle load that is carrying more than 60,000 litres of hydrocarbon will not be allowed to load at any loading depot.
“Let me repeat, beginning 1st March, trucks with a capacity in excess of 60,000 litres will not be allowed to load in any loading depot for petroleum products. By Q4 of 2025, we will also preclude the loading or transportation of petroleum products on any truck in excess of 45,000 litres. So that is the breaking news for today,” he added.
