Nigeria produced only 1.46 billion litres of petrol, from 2015 to 2019, primarily due to low refining capacity from inactive refineries, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
This information was revealed in its recently released 2023 Petroleum Products Distribution Statistics.
Findings shows that the 1.46 billion litres produced during this period was insufficient to meet the country’s consumption for just two months.
The report detailed that Nigeria produced 377.9 million litres of petrol in 2015, 1.05 billion litres in 2016, 951.56 million litres in 2017, and 128.1 million litres in 2019.
No fuel was refined in 2018, it indicated.
From 2020 to 2023, Nigeria only produced diesel and kerosene through modular refineries, as the country’s refineries remained inactive.
Consequently, over 20 billion litres of petrol were imported in 2023, which is three billion litres less than the 23 billion litres imported in 2022.
According to the report, 20.30 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit were imported in 2023 relative to 23.54 billion litres in 2022, dipping by 13.77 per cent.
In the same period, PMS truck out stood at 20.22 billion litres, indicating a 16.96 per cent decrease relative to 24.35 billion litres recorded in 2022.
The Federal Government has consistently attributed the decrease in imported petrol to the removal of subsidies.
It was revealed that about 69.71 million litres of kerosene were locally produced in 2023, compared to 44.68 million litres in the previous year, indicating a 56.02 per cent rise.
