KEY POINTS
- Nigeria has supplied 12.6 million barrels of crude to local refineries in 2025, with the Dangote Refinery receiving the bulk of the volumes.
- The government has suspended a planned 15 per cent import tariff on petrol and diesel, citing risks of price hikes.
- Business groups say the reversal undermines investor confidence and slows progress toward energy independence.
Nigeria has delivered more than 12 million barrels of crude oil to domestic refineries since the start of 2025, a volume that places the Dangote Refinery firmly at the centre of the country’s push to revive local processing capacity.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) disclosed the figures in Abuja, saying crude allocations have more than doubled in two years.
Farouk Ahmed, the Authority’s chief executive, told industry reporters at the Energy Correspondents Association of Nigeria’s annual conference that supply to local plants has climbed from about 20,000 barrels per day in 2023 to above 40,000 barrels per day this year. That growth, he said, is a direct outcome of tighter coordination between the Authority and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which has been under pressure to guarantee steady feedstock for both modular and privately owned refineries.
Ahmed’s comments came shortly after the government halted the planned introduction of a 15 per cent import tariff on petrol and diesel. Officials argued the reversal was necessary to avoid a sudden jump in pump prices and keep the downstream market from slipping into fresh volatility.
Industry backlash grows over import tariff suspension
But the move has not gone down well with the Ogun State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, which said the U-turn risks weakening investor confidence and undermining efforts to build a more resilient refining sector. The chamber’s president, Niyi Oshiyemi, described the suspension as a missed opportunity to strengthen domestic producers, warning that continued reliance on fuel importation puts pressure on foreign exchange markets and stalls progress toward energy self-sufficiency.
According to him, the tariff would have offered a measure of protection for emergent refiners and eased the long-standing imbalance between imported products and those produced at home. He argued that abandoning the policy at the last minute sends the wrong signal to financiers who have taken early risks in the downstream space, particularly those backing new modular facilities.
NMDPRA, however, maintains that there is ample supply to keep the market stable. In a statement signed by its public affairs director, George Ene-Ita, the Authority urged Nigerians to resist panic buying, saying products from both domestic production and imports are sufficient to replenish depots and retail outlets without disruption.
Ahmed added that the Authority has recently gazetted 18 regulatory instruments and drafted new operational procedures intended to tighten oversight and improve efficiency across the entire chain, from crude evacuation to distribution at filling stations.
While the broader reform effort continues, the dispute over the suspended tariff has exposed a familiar tension at the heart of Nigeria’s energy policy: balancing consumer protection with the need to create a competitive environment that encourages domestic production. For many in the private sector, the hope is that the rapid growth in crude deliveries to refineries, particularly the Dangote plant, will eventually push the country closer to stable, locally driven supply.
