Daily petrol consumption in Nigeria increased by 10.78 per cent in April 2026 despite the significant rise in pump prices across the country. Data released by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority revealed that usage climbed to 52.4 million litres from the 47.3 million litres recorded in March.
Petrol prices averaged N1,370 per litre in April, representing a 13.8 per cent increase from the N1,180 per litre average seen in March. The regulator noted that the combined petrol supply from the Dangote Refinery and imports also rose by 10.7 per cent to 44.4 million litres per day during the month under review.
A breakdown of the figures showed that supply from the Dangote Refinery rose by 19 per cent to 40.7 million litres per day in April while petrol imports dropped sharply by 37.3 per cent to 3.7 million litres per day. The report further showed that imported crude oil declined by 95.65 per cent to 0.41 million barrels. Similarly, crude oil supply from Nigerian upstream companies to local refineries increased by 56 per cent to 17.99 million barrels compared to the previous month.
According to the NMDPRA, the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery achieved 99.12 per cent capacity utilization in April. Meanwhile, the government owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna remained inactive during the period.
Nigeria also recorded a marginal rise in its total oil output, which increased to 1.663 million barrels per day in April 2026 from 1.546 million barrels per day in March. These figures, which include condensates, were provided by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in its National Liquid Hydrocarbon Production Report. Despite the growth, the country failed to meet its 1.5 million barrels per day crude oil production quota approved by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The regulator disclosed that average daily crude oil production was approximately 1.4 million barrels per day. The total output also remained below the 1.84 million barrels per day benchmark adopted in the 2026 budget. This development comes as the Federal Government and industry operators continue efforts to ramp up production to two million barrels per day to boost national revenue and strengthen foreign exchange earnings.
0 Comments