Nigeria’s Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol importation rose by 96.6 per cent in March this year to 5.9 million litres per day, up from 3.0 million litres in February, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has reported.
The Authority, in its monthly Fact Sheet titled “State of the Midstream and Downstream Sector for March 2026” released on Wednesday, however, disclosed that petrol supply from domestic refineries declined by 2.3 million litres per day, or 6.3 per cent, to 34.2 million litres, from to 36.5 million litres supplied in February.
Based on these figures, the total petrol supply for the month stood at 40.1 million litres per day, representing a marginal drop of 1.5 per cent from the 40.5 million litres per day recorded in the previous month.
When analyzed on a year-on-year basis, the daily petrol imports dropped significantly by 79.4 per cent to 5.9 million litres in March this year, compared to 28.7 million litres per day in March 2025.
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According to the report, this brings the total petrol supply for the month to 40.1 million litres per day, representing a marginal drop of 1.5 per cent from the 40.5 million litres per day recorded in February. However, on a year-on-year basis, the daily petrol imports declined by 79.4 per cent to 5.9 million litres in the month under review, compared to 28.7 million litres per day in March last year.
The Fact Sheet reflected that the Dangote Refinery remained the only supplier of petrol locally during the month as the three government-owned refineries being managed by NNPC Limited remained shut down.
The NMDPRA data also indicated a sharp drop in fuel consumption in March, dropping from 56.9 million litres per day in February to 47.3 million litres per day due to what industry analysts linked to rising fuel prices in the month under review.
The report further showed that petrol stock sufficiency fell sharply from 30.7 days to 21.2 days, indicating tighter inventory levels despite increased imports.
Similarly, in March this year automotive gas oil (AGO), also known as diesel, the report revealed that supply fell by 58.4 per cent to 10.3 million litres per day in March, from 24.8 million litres per day in February.
A further analysis of the data showed that imports accounted for 6.4 million litres, representing 62 per cent of total diesel supply, while local refineries supplied 3.9 million litres per day.
The figures on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, revealed that total daily supply stood at 4.726 million metric tonnes, with 4.5 million metric tonnes supplied by local processing plants.
