The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has issued import permits for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS, commonly known as petrol) to six depot owners and petroleum marketers. Industry stakeholders regard this decision as a calculated effort by the Federal Government to foster supply diversity, prevent over-dependence on any single supplier, and safeguard stability across Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector.
Reliable industry sources confirm that the regulator recently granted these permits, with each approved importer authorised to bring in approximately 30,000 metric tonnes of petrol. The move comes amid growing concerns over the high level of market concentration in petrol supply. According to official figures for February 2026, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery supplied roughly 92% of the country’s total petrol requirement.
NMDPRA data for the same period shows that local refining almost entirely from the Dangote facility provided an average of about 36.5 million litres per day. Imported volumes remained modest at around 3 million litres daily, resulting in a combined national supply of approximately 39.5 million litres per day.
At present, Dangote Refinery is the only large-scale producer of petrol in Nigeria, while the majority of modular refineries continue to focus primarily on diesel and other distillates. A senior industry figure with direct insight into regulatory developments noted that, until these latest approvals, no petrol import permits had been issued under the current NMDPRA leadership.
The change is widely interpreted as an intentional policy adjustment to maintain flexibility, encourage healthy competition, and build resilience in the domestic fuel market as local refining capacity expands and matures.
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