Despite the commissioning of the Dangote Refinery and the Port Harcourt Refinery, Nigeria’s fuel importation continues to rise, reaching 2.3 billion litres between September 11 and December 5, 2024.
The Dangote Refinery, with a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, officially began operations on September 15, 2024, while the Port Harcourt Refinery started PMS production and distribution on November 26, 2024. Both facilities were expected to be pivotal in reducing Nigeria’s reliance on imported fuel. However, data from the NPA shows that large-scale fuel importation has persisted.
In just three days, 52,000 metric tonnes of PMS—equivalent to approximately 68.74 million litres—were imported into the country. This quantity was transported in three vessels at various ports across Nigeria.
On December 3, 2024, the vessel Binta Saleh arrived at Apapa Port in Lagos, carrying 12,000 MT (15.864 million litres) of petrol. The shipment, managed by Blue Seas Maritime, was offloaded at the Bulk Oil Plant terminal.
On December 4, 2024, another vessel named Shamal delivered 20,000 MT (26.44 million litres) of PMS at Tin Can Port, Lagos, at midnight. This shipment was facilitated by Peak Shipping Agency and handled at Terminal KLT Phase 3a.
On December 5, 2024, the vessel Watson arrived at Calabar Port in Cross River State, carrying another 20,000 MT (26.44 million litres) of petrol. The offloading was managed by Kach Maritime at the Ecomarine Terminal.
The persistence of fuel importation comes even after agreements were reached between the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Dangote Refinery to sell petrol directly to marketers.
On October 11, 2024, the Federal Government announced that marketers could now lift petrol directly from the Dangote Refinery, effectively ending the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC) monopoly as the sole off-taker.
