Nigeria’s petrol imports hit eight-year low

Nigeria’s petrol imports in September hit their lowest level in at least eight years, according to a report issued on Monday by commodity intelligence provider Argus.

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The seaborne-petrol the country received in September slid to 116,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 154,000 in the preceding month, representing the smallest volume ever recorded since Kpler started keeping records in 2017, the market surveillance company observed.

The milestone was recorded despite maintenance works on the petrol-yielding Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit at Lagos-based Dangote Petroleum Refinery, and operational challenges caused by a labour dispute that erupted at the plant last month.

The RFCC, which went offline on 2 September, is expected to be restored early this month, Argus said, citing market participants.

“Net petrol imports slumped to a new low of 38,000 bpd in September, after cargoes were notably loaded from Dangote for New York Harbor. Total petrol loadings from Nigeria were their second-highest on record at 77,000 bpd,” the market observer noted.

Towards the end of September, a dispute between the refinery and 800 members of its labour force over an abrupt termination of their employment triggered a two-day strike that upset the supply of crude and natural gas to the plant. That was resolved at the beginning of October, following mediation by the government.

According to Argus tracking, the refinery received 375,000 b/d of crude in September, compared to 440,000 b/d the month prior.

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“But no local petrol supply shortages were reported in September, and petrol asking prices at the Dangote refinery were broadly steady around 820 naira/litre (55¢/l),” the company said.

A one-day suspension of gasoline sales in naira by the refinery on 26 September was quickly resolved in the heat of the labour dispute.

“Naira-denominated domestic gasoline sales were further bolstered by the resumption of the naira-for-crude programme, under which Dangote pays local currency for domestic crude grades sourced from state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), and sells petrol and diesel to the local market in naira,” Argus stated.

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According to the document, Dangote refinery estimated domestic petrol demand for September at 40 million litres per day, equivalent to 252,000 b/d.

“West Africa’s largest economy was the world’s fifth largest gasoline importer on a b/d basis in 2024, according to Kpler vessel tracking data, but this has dropped by more than 40 per cent to 162,000 b/d in January-September,” it remarked. It added that Nigeria is now the world’s eighth largest petrol importer.