Contrary to earlier claims that Nigeria has reached the height of producing fuel enough for local consumption and even export as 650,000bpd Dangote Refinery plus two national refineries are on production stream, the combined refining capacity of 985,000 barrels per day, contribute less than 50 per cent of the nation’s daily petrol consumption.
Earlier in the week, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), said the significant shortfall was being filled through the importation of refined petroleum products. This was as it disclosed that Nigerians currently consume 50 million litres of petrol daily.
However, a puzzle that will remain unresolved is why upon not producing for local usage, Dangote is exporting her fuel after all.
The NMDPRA Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, said this at a press conference in Abuja, noting that the authority, operating under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, has been granting import licences, emphasising that without these imports, there would have been a fuel shortage.
Just last year, two state-owned refineries, the 210,000 barrels per day capacity Port Harcourt refinery, and the 125,000bpd Warri refinery, began operations after decades of being moribund.
Earlier in the year, the 650,000bpd Dangote refinery also commenced operations to the delight of Nigerians.
Although officials of these refineries have claimed that the facilities were working at advanced levels of production supplying products to Nigerians, Ahmed, represented by the Executive Director, Distribution System, Storage, and Retailing Infrastructure, Ogbugo Ukoha, indicated the country was still heavily dependent on petrol imports with over 50 per cent coming in from foreign countries.
