May 2026: Domestic production surges, as fuel imports, consumption plummet

Fresh industry data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has revealed that Nigeria’s domestic refining experienced a surge in May 2026 while there was a sharp decline in premium motor spirit (PMS) imports and national fuel consumption.

In its Midstream and Downstream Statistics for May 2026, fuel imports saw a sharp decline in May 2026, driven by a structural shift toward localized manufacturing.

Notably, automotive gas oil imports completely dried up, dropping by a full one hundred percent from 1.7 million liters per day in April to zero in May.

Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports also remained virtually non-existent, leaving the market to rely almost exclusively on local gas plants and vessels.

Premium motor spirit  (PMS) was the sole outlier with imports rising slightly to 5.9 million liters per day, though this figure was heavily eclipsed by domestic production.

While state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna remained completely shutdown, the private sector stepped in to deliver a stellar performance. Total crude receipts by domestic refineries stood at a robust 0.578 million barrels per day.

The Dangote Refinery operated at an astonishing 101.25% average capacity utilization for the month, producing 44.7 million liters per day of petrol and 24.5 million liters per day of diesel. This massive local output is precisely what wiped out the nation’s reliance on imported diesel, while active modular refineries like WalterSmith, Edo, and Aradel further bolstered the grid by supplying an extra 0.648 million liters per day of diesel.

Despite this, fuel consumption did not increase, falling sharply when evaluated against April 2026 and the preceding four months of the year.

Daily petrol consumption dropped by 9.4% month-on-month, falling from 51.1 million liters per day to 46.3 million liters per day.

This volume represents the lowest demand recorded all year, continuing a steady downward trajectory since consumption peaked in January 2026 at 60.2 million liters per day.

Diesel demand similarly dropped to 16.0 million liters per day, and cooking gas consumption slid to 4.5 kilotons per day, leaving aviation fuel as the only category to buck the trend due to scaling commercial airline activity.