Imports of Premium Motor Spirit have dropped sharply from 44.6 million litres per day in August 2024 to 14.7 million litres as of April 13, 2025—a decline of about 30 million litres, or 67 per cent—according to the latest supply tracker from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, made this disclosure on Tuesday while addressing State House correspondents during the sixth edition of the Meet-the-Press briefing series organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
Ahmed noted that local supply increased by 670 per cent during the period.
While domestic production was nearly zero in August 2024, local refineries delivered 26.2 million litres per day by early April 2025—up from 3.4 million litres in September, when measurable output first began.
He attributed the sharp rise in local supply to the phased restart of the Port Harcourt Refining Company in late November and the steady increase in output from modular refineries.
Despite the gains, combined supply exceeded the government’s 50 million litres per day consumption benchmark only twice in the eight-month period—56 million litres in November and 52.3 million litres in February.
It dipped slightly below the the target in March at 51.5 million litres and fell further to 40.9 million litres in the first half of April.
The NMDPRA boss explained that the Authority issues import licences based solely on the country’s actual supply needs.
