By Tom Zaneni, Abuja
The Federal Government of Nigeria has not imported a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (also called fuel) into the country since January 2025.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, disclosed this on Tuesday.
He made the disclosure while explaining that local supply rose by 670 per cent within August 2024 to date.
Ahmed was a guest on Meet the Press, an interactive session between the State House Correspondents and the Presidential Media aides.
He claimed that the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government on May 29, 2023 has resulted in a sharp drop of demand for petroleum products by 30 million litres (about 67 per cent), from 44.6 million litres a day in August 2024 to 14.7 million litres by 13 April 2025.
He said that after contributing virtually nothing in August, local plants delivered 26.2 million per day in early April, a jump from the 3.4 ml recorded in September, the first month with measurable output.
Ahmed attributed the surge to the phased revitalization of the Port Harcourt Refining Company in late November, with incremental volumes from modular refineries in the country.
“Despite the progress, combined supply crossed the government’s 50 million litre per day consumption benchmark only twice in the eight-month window—November (56 million) and February (52.3 million).
“In March it slipped just below target at 51.5 million, and in the first half of April, it remained short at 40.9 million”, the NMDPRA boss explained.
According to him, the authority only grants imports licences relative to the country’s supply requirements.
He also allayed fears that the volatility in the global oil market would adversely affect Nigeria’s budget for 2025.
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