Nigeria’s petrol imports took a significant hit in 2023, dropping by 13.77% to 20.30 billion liters compared to the previous year’s 23.54 billion liters, according to the National Bureau of Statistics’ latest Petroleum Products Distribution Data.
This decline was largely driven by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government introducing the fuel subsidy removal policy in May 2023.
The data also revealed a 16.96% decrease in petrol distribution, from 24.35 billion liters in 2022 to 20.22 billion liters in 2023 ¹. On the other hand, Automotive Gas oil imports surged by 23.66%, reaching 4.94 billion liters in 2023.
The fuel subsidy removal policy, announced in 2023, led to a staggering price hike from N238 per liter to over N600 per liter. Fast-forward to September 2024, and petrol prices skyrocketed to between N950.22 and N1,100 per liter ¹. Interestingly, this coincided with Nigeria commencing domestic petrol production at the Dangote Refinery on September 15, 2024.
Experts predict that the Dangote refinery, the continent’s largest, will significantly reduce Nigeria’s reliance on fuel imports once fully operational. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) aims to end petrol imports by December 2024, as the country’s refineries are expected to become operational ³.
