Fuel imports hit 2.3bn litres despite local production

Despite the commencement of petrol production by two major refineries in Nigeria in the last three months, oil marketers have continued to import and distribute the product nationwide.

According to report gathered on Wednesday, marketers imported 2.3 billion litres of petrol between September 11 and December 5, 2024.

The continued importation of petrol is contrary to a public announcement by some group of marketers who earlier stated their intention to halt petrol imports and focus on domestic supply.

The Dangote refinery with 650,000 bpd capacity began selling petrol in September, while the Area 5 facility of the Port Harcourt refinery with 210,000bpd capacity started operations last Tuesday.

However despite this, recent findings have revealed that in the past three days alone, a total of 52,000 metric tonnes of petrol were brought into the country.