Petrol importation in Nigeria rose sharply by 96.6 per cent in March 2026 to 5.9 million litres per day, up from 3.0 million litres recorded in February, data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has shown.
The figures were contained in the agency’s monthly report titled State of the Midstream and Downstream Sector for March 2026, released on Tuesday.
The report also indicated a decline in supply from domestic refineries, which dropped by 2.3 million litres per day, or 6.3 per cent, to 34.2 million litres in March, compared to 36.5 million litres in the previous month.
As a result, total petrol supply stood at 40.1 million litres per day, representing a marginal decrease from the 40.5 million litres recorded in February.
Despite the month-on-month increase, petrol imports recorded a significant year-on-year decline of 79.4 per cent, falling from 28.7 million litres per day in March 2025 to 5.9 million litres in the same period this year.
The authority noted that the Dangote Refinery remained the only domestic source of petrol supply during the period, while the three government-owned refineries under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited were not operational.
According to the report, average daily petrol consumption dropped to 47.3 million litres in March from 56.9 million litres in February, based on volumes distributed across the country.
On diesel, also known as Automotive Gas Oil, total supply fell by 58.4 per cent to 10.3 million litres per day, down from 24.8 million litres in February.
Imports accounted for 6.4 million litres, representing 62 per cent of the total diesel supply, while local production contributed 3.9 million litres per day.
For Liquefied Petroleum Gas, commonly referred to as cooking gas, total daily supply stood at 4.726 million metric tonnes, with the bulk supplied by local processing facilities.
