By Obinna Uballa
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has disclosed that petrol supply from the Dangote refinery fell significantly below projection in November, despite a rise in overall fuel supply driven largely by imports.
In its November 2025 State of the Midstream and Downstream Fact Sheet, the regulator said the Dangote refinery, which had projected a daily petrol output of 35 million litres, delivered an average of just 23.52 million litres per day to the domestic market during the month.
The report also showed that Nigeria’s average daily petrol consumption declined to 52.9 million litres in November, down from 56.7 million litres recorded in October 2025.
However, total petrol supply jumped sharply to 71 million litres per day in November, compared with 46 million litres per day in October. According to NMDPRA, this increase was largely import-driven, with 52.1 million litres per day coming from imports, while local refineries contributed 19.5 million litres.
Explaining the spike in supply, the authority said it was necessitated by supply shortfalls recorded in September and October, when volumes fell below national demand thresholds, as well as the need to shore up national stock levels ahead of end-of-year festivities.
The regulator also cited imports by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, described as the “supplier of last resort”, to build inventory and guarantee supply during the peak demand period.
“Twelve vessels programmed to discharge into October spilled into November 2025,” the report stated.
NMDPRA added that domestic supply figures were derived from “disport/discharged volumes plus refinery truck-outs”.
On consumption of other products, the authority said Nigerians used an average of 15.4 million litres of diesel and 2.5 million litres of aviation fuel daily in November.
The report further noted that the Port Harcourt refinery continues to supply about 349,000 litres of diesel per day, despite being shut down. The NNPC had announced on May 24 that the Port Harcourt Refining Company would shut down for maintenance.
According to NMDPRA, no production activities have taken place since the shutdown, but evacuation of diesel produced before May 24 has continued at an average of 0.349 million litres per day.
Warri and Kaduna refineries, the authority said, remain shut down.
On modular refineries, NMDPRA disclosed that Waltersmith refinery’s 5,000 barrels-per-stream-day second train is undergoing commissioning. The refinery recorded an average capacity utilisation of 63.32 per cent in November, producing about 133,000 litres of diesel daily.
Edo refinery operated at an average capacity utilisation of 91.40 per cent, with daily diesel output of about 60,000 litres, while Aradel refinery recorded a utilisation rate of 62.30 per cent, supplying an average of 296,000 litres of diesel per day.
However, the regulator noted that OPAC and Duport refineries did not produce during the period under review.
