Petrol supply drops 23% despite higher Dangote output

Nigeria’s daily petrol supply fell by 23 per cent in September, despite increased production at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, as exports rose and domestic deliveries declined.
The September 2026 factsheet of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority showed that total petrol receipts dropped from 50.5 million litres per day in August to 38.7 million litres in September.
The decline came as daily petrol consumption rose by seven per cent to 44.4 million litres, leaving a gap between supply and demand.
Domestic petrol receipts fell by 21 per cent, from 35.9 million litres to 28.5 million litres daily, while imports dropped by 30 per cent, from 14.6 million litres to 10.2 million litres.
The market therefore received 11.8 million fewer litres of petrol daily than in August, despite higher output at the Dangote refinery.
The refinery increased its average daily petrol production by 13 per cent, from 41.94 million litres to 47.22 million litres. Its capacity utilisation also rose from 105.21 per cent to 105.98 per cent, above its installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
However, domestic deliveries from the refinery fell from 35.87 million litres daily in August to 28.5 million litres in September, while petrol exports increased by 59 per cent, from 9.73 million litres to 15.47 million litres daily.
The refinery also added 3.25 million litres of petrol daily to its stocks, ending September with 366.2 million litres, compared with 360.4 million litres at the end of August.
The figures indicate that increased production did not translate into higher domestic supplies, as exports rose and stocks accumulated.
The supply decline coincided with high petrol prices across major cities. The NMDPRA’s indicative prices stood at N1,371.01 per litre in Lagos, N1,420.01 in Abuja, N1,447.75 in Kano and N1,464.75 in Maiduguri.
The regulator also reported a nine per cent drop in crude oil supplied to domestic refineries, from 681,000 barrels daily in August to 618,000 barrels in September.
Despite the lower crude receipts, Dangote processed an estimated 689,000 barrels daily by drawing on its crude inventory.
Diesel supplies also contracted sharply. Daily receipts fell by 40 per cent, from 14.5 million litres in August to 8.7 million litres in September, even as consumption edged up to 14.5 million litres.
Domestic diesel receipts declined by 39 per cent to 8.1 million litres daily, while imports fell by 54 per cent to 600,000 litres. Dangote’s diesel production rose by 35 per cent to 24.32 million litres daily, but domestic deliveries fell as exports increased by 82 per cent to 15.91 million litres.
Cooking gas recorded an improvement, with daily receipts rising by nine per cent to 4.7 kilotonnes. Domestic supply increased by 50 per cent to 4.5 kilotonnes, accounting for about 96 per cent of total receipts, while imports fell sharply.
However, average daily gas supply, including deliveries to Nigeria LNG Limited, declined by 2.2 per cent to 4.822 billion cubic feet in September. Domestic gas supply fell by 6.7 per cent, while supply to NLNG rose by 1.5 per cent.