The Federal Government has confirmed that Nigeria imports 25 million litres of petrol daily to meet its consumption demands, as the country’s petrol consumption has now dropped to 50 million litres per day. According to the government, local refineries supply half of this daily requirement, while the remainder is sourced through importation.
The revelation came on Wednesday when the Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr. Ogbugo Ukoha, briefed journalists after a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja.
Speaking on the impact of President Bola Tinubu’s subsidy removal policy, Ukoha highlighted a significant decline in petrol consumption.
> “Prior to the current administration, daily petrol consumption was averaging 66 million litres in 2021 and 2022, reaching over 60 million litres per day in early 2023. However, following President Tinubu’s announcement of subsidy removal on May 29, 2023, we immediately observed a steep decline in consumption,” Ukoha stated.
According to him, since the subsidy removal, daily petrol consumption has stabilized at around 50 million litres, with local refineries supplying less than half of this demand. The remaining shortfall, as mandated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), is sourced through imports.
In a major policy shift, the NMDPRA has announced a ban on 60,000-litre capacity tankers from transporting petrol and other petroleum products, effective March 1, 2025. The move comes despite strong opposition from truck owners, who warn that the ban could lead to over N300 billion in losses, as over 2,000 of such high-capacity trucks are currently in operation across the country.
Ukoha justified the ban, citing alarming safety concerns and road infrastructure damage caused by the oversized tankers.
“These high-capacity tankers have contributed to a spike in tanker-related fires and have a severe impact on Nigerian roads. In a high-level meeting involving the DSS, FEMA, Federal Fire Service, FRSC, NATO, NUPENG, MEMAN, PETROAN, IPMAN, DAPMAN, SON, and ONSA, it was agreed that, effective March 1, 2025, trucks exceeding 60,000 litres will no longer be allowed to load at any depot,” Ukoha declared.
Furthermore, he revealed that by Q4 of 2025, the government will further tighten regulations, banning trucks exceeding 45,000 litres from transporting petroleum products.
The new tanker ban signals a major shake-up in the petroleum transportation sector and is expected to:
Enhance road safety by reducing the frequency of tanker-related accidents.
Improve road infrastructure by limiting damage caused by overloaded trucks.
Disrupt operations of major transporters who rely on larger tankers for distribution.
Despite the outcry from stakeholders, the NMDPRA insists that the new measures are in the best interest of public safety and national infrastructure development.
With Nigeria still reliant on fuel imports, the latest policy shifts are set to reshape the downstream sector, ensuring a more regulated, efficient, and safer petroleum distribution system.
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