A recent review of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) monthly economic reports has unveiled a staggering revelation: Nigeria spent a jaw-dropping $2.62 billion on the importation of petroleum products within just three months—between November 2024 and January 2025.
According to the report obtained by Sahara Reporters, petroleum imports amounted to $0.99 billion in November, slightly declining to $0.83 billion in December, and dipping further to $0.80 billion in January 2025.
“A disaggregation indicated that the import of petroleum products decreased by 2.01 per cent to US$0.99 billion from its level in the preceding month,” the CBN stated in its November 2024 economic report. Non-oil imports also saw a minor dip to $2.20 billion from $2.22 billion in October.
In January 2025, the apex bank reported: “Import of petroleum products decreased by 3.61 per cent to US$0.80 billion from US$0.83 billion in the preceding month. An analysis of sectoral utilisation of foreign exchange for visible imports showed the industry sector as the largest consumer of forex at 47.63 per cent, followed by the oil sector at 25.91 per cent.”
The relentless dependence on imported refined petroleum is continuing to put intense pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves, further weakening the naira and derailing economic stability. This fiscal hemorrhage stands in stark contrast to the Nigerian government’s repeated assurances of achieving fuel self-sufficiency through domestic refining.
A separate Sahara Reporters review found that between October and December 2024 alone, Nigeria spent a colossal N3.303 trillion on imported refined petroleum. This represents an alarming surge of N1.496 trillion compared to the same period in 2023—and dwarfs past records: N1.558 trillion in Q4 2022, N1.443 trillion in Q4 2021, and N574.8 billion in Q4 2019.
In November 2024, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announced that the Port Harcourt Refinery had finally begun crude oil processing, operating at 60% capacity with an expected daily output of 60,000 barrels per day. The announcement, made by NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Femi Soneye, sparked cautious optimism.
“Port Harcourt Refinery Begins Production; Truck Loading Starts Today,” Soneye declared on X (formerly Twitter).
Despite this, the heavy reliance on imported fuel persists. The Port Harcourt facility, along with the much-celebrated Dangote Refinery—which boasts a mammoth 650,000 bpd capacity—have not yet reversed the tide of import dependence. Industry insiders cite pricing disputes between Dangote and NNPCL as a key bottleneck, leaving Nigerians to wonder: where is all the locally refined fuel?
The continued importation also flies in the face of bold declarations made by the Bola Tinubu administration. In 2023, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, confidently assured Nigerians that fuel importation would end by February 2024 during a visit to the Port Harcourt Refining Company in Eleme.
Yet, nearly halfway through 2025, the reality tells a different story.
As Nigeria bleeds billions in forex to import the very resource it produces in abundance, analysts and citizens alike are asking tough questions. When will the nation’s refineries truly deliver? And how much longer can Nigeria afford this unsustainable cycle?
PIONEER NEWS 