The daily consumption of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, has again dropped in Nigeria even as imports surge by 97 per cent in March.
This is according to the latest report from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for March 2026.
The NMDPRA Factsheet released on Tuesday shows that daily petrol consumption dropped by 16.9 per cent from 56.9 million litres per day (ML/D) in February to 47.3 ML/D in March 2026. The previous report indicated that petrol consumption reduced by 5.5 per cent from 60.2 ML/D in January to 56.9 ML/D in February.
The NMDPRA March 2026 report highlights a significant shift in Nigeria’s fuel landscape, characterised by a sharp rise in imports despite a notable drop in daily domestic consumption.
Analysts attribute the drop in petrol consumption to the current high cost, driven by a jump in crude oil prices on the global market due to supply disruptions arising from the ongoing war in the Middle East involving the U.S. and Iran.
However, petrol imports rose by 97 per cent from 3.0 ML/D in February to 5.9 ML/D in March. This pushed the total daily supply of petrol into the domestic market slightly by 1.6 per cent to 40.1 ML/D, up from 39.5 ML/D recorded in February. The NMDPRA Factsheet reveals that out of the 40.1 ML/D, the domestic supply was 34.2 ML/D, reflecting a 6.3 per cent dip from 36.5 ML/D recorded in February.
The report also revealed that the daily supply of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), also known as diesel, declined significantly by 57.8 per cent from 24.4 ML/D in February to 10.3 ML/D in March. The data show that the domestic supply component dropped from 8.8 ML/D in February to 3.9 ML/D in March 2026, while imports also declined from 15.6 ML/D to 6.4 ML/D in February.
The report further shows that diesel consumption also dropped by 28.6 per cent from 20.3 ML/D in February to 14.5 ML/D in March.
The report stated that domestic gas supply rose slightly from 4.771 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) to 4.888 bscf/d, indicating steady growth in the gas segment.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) remained stable at 4.7 metric tonnes. The domestic supply component rose from 4.0 metric tonnes in February to 4.5 metric tonnes in March, while imports dropped from 0.7 bscf/d to 0.2 bscf/d.
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The report also shows that aviation fuel (ATK) consumption dropped from 2.9 ML/D to 2.1 ML/D.
On Dangote Refinery performance, the report disclosed that the average capacity utilization stood at 93.62 per cent. While the domestic PMS supply was 34.2 million litres per day, the refinery supplied 2.2 million litres of diesel in March.
The report also disclosed that operations in the three state-owned refineries – Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna – remain shut down, but evacuation of AGO produced at the Port Harcourt refinery while it was operational averaged 0.048 million litres/day in March.
It further stated that three modular refineries in the country -Walter Smith, Edo Refinery and Aradel – supplied an average of 0.629 million litres per day of diesel in the month of March 2026.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist, scholar and analyst of socioeconomic issues in Nigeria and Africa. He is skilled in energy reporting, business and economy, and holds a master's degree in Mass Communication. He can be reached via @VICTOREZEJA on X
