Nigeria’s daily petrol consumption jumps to 51.1 million litres in April – NMDPRA

Nigeria’s daily petrol consumption rose sharply to 51.1 million litres per day in April 2026, up from 47.3 million litres recorded in March. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) released the figures in its latest industry data.

The increase highlights growing demand for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), or petrol, as domestic refining capacity improves and reliance on imported fuel declines.

Domestic supply rises on Dangote Refinery output

The NMDPRA’s April 2026 Factsheet showed domestic petrol supply climbed to 40.7 million litres per day in April, compared to 34.2 million litres per day in March. The Dangote Petroleum Refinery drove the increase. It produced 53.6 million litres of petrol daily in April, supplying 40.7 million litres to the local market and exporting 17.1 million litres daily.

Imported petroleum products contributed only 3.7 million litres per day to domestic supply in April, down from 5.9 million litres per day in March. Dangote Refinery operated at an average capacity utilisation rate of 99.12 percent during the month, hitting 100 percent on most operating days.

Crude supply to refineries drops

Crude oil supplied to domestic refineries declined to 0.612 million barrels per day in April, from 0.674 million barrels per day in March. State-owned refineries under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) remained inactive. The Warri and Kaduna refineries recorded zero production despite ongoing rehabilitation efforts.

Modular refineries show mixed performance

WalterSmith Refinery operated at 56.14 percent capacity utilisation in April. Edo Refinery and Petrochemicals Company posted 79.2 percent capacity utilisation. Aradel Refinery ran at 39.5 percent capacity utilisation. Combined, the three modular refineries supplied an average of 0.559 million litres of refined products per day in April 2026.

The NMDPRA noted that rising refining activity did not prevent a decline in crude oil supply to domestic refineries. This raises concerns over feedstock availability and the effectiveness of Nigeria’s domestic crude supply framework.

Broader production context

Nigeria’s oil production rebounded strongly in April 2026, with a combined daily average output of 1.663 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and condensates. However, the NUPRC earlier reported that Nigeria supplied 28.5 million barrels of crude oil to domestic refineries in the first quarter of 2026, falling short of the 61.9 million barrels allocated for the period.

In late March, Nigeria recorded a crude oil and condensate production shortfall of about 16.6 million barrels in the first two months of 2026.