₦airaland Forum

By Bayo Akomolafe


Importers of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) are currently facing a major dilemma as products imported into the country are currently at various jetties just as a growing number of independent marketers have started pushing more for locally refined products.

Findings by New Telegraph show that at the moment, more than 2.39 billion litres of imported fuel valued at N1.77 trillion are lying waste at various depots.

According to available data, in October, 828,000 litres of PMS were shipped to the port jetties and another 1.57 billion litres in November by importers to contest with local petrol price.

However, Dangote increased its production in October 2025 by a volume of 600 million litres; 900 million litres in November and 1.5 billion litres in December even as the ex-depot price was reduced to N699 per litres against the landing price of N840 per litre.

Since December 16, 2025, Dangote Refinery has consistently loaded between 31 million and 48 million litres of PMS daily from its gantry, following market demand. Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) had also opposed the continued importation of PMS into the country. The association emphasised that the commencement of supply from Dangote Refinery had significantly improved product availability.

According to the National President, IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi Shettima, “since supply began, marketers have consistently lifted products without any complaints.

We oppose continued importation because Dangote Refinery has the capacity to meet the country’s entire PMS demand.” Shettima stressed that members were satisfied with the reliability of supply and welcome the refinery’s commitment to direct delivery to filling stations, noting that it would stabilise the distribution and be of great benefit to consumers.

According to him, the improved access to locally refined products had eased supply pressures and boosted confidence among independent marketers, reaffirming IPMAN’s commitment to domestic refining as a sustainable solution for Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Balance of Payments (BoP) data hae revealed that spending on imported refined petroleum products has dropped by 54 per cent from $14.58 billion in the first nine months of 2023 to $6.71 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.

A review of the CBN’s 2023 and 2024 full-year reports and the Q3 2025 BoP, revealed a steady year-onyear decline in fuel import costs. Import spending fell to $11.38 billion between January and September 2024, representing a $3.20 billion or 21.9 per cent reduction from the same period in 2023, before dropping further by $4.67 billion, or 41 per cent, in the first nine months of 2025

dawnomike:
Importers will have no choice but to align eventually... We must support local production that fuels our economy and provides employment opportunities.

We can only hope Dangote will not turn up price on us later on.

ribbit:
That's a lesson for those who believe that Nigerians actually prefer foreign products.


Nigerians want cheap quality products not foreign.

Those locally made rice would have chased foreign rice out of the market if they actually produce good quality rice and lower price.

But no, their greed won't let them be.

MIKOLOWISKA:
greed or production costs

ruffhandu:
Tinubu and NNPC will still pay them subsidy. No loss here.

Misterone:
Where is this one coming from! Ijebu Igbo!

dawnomike:
Importers will have no choice but to align eventually... We must support local production that fuels our economy and provides employment opportunities.

We can only hope Dangote will not turn up price on us later on.

dawnomike:
Importers will have no choice but to align eventually... We must support local production that fuels our economy and provides employment opportunities.

We can only hope Dangote will not turn up price on us later on.

Princecalm:
Jul 29, 2015

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has announced that the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries have been successfully re-streamed after a nine-month rehabilitation exercise conducted by its in-house engineers and technicians.

The corporation, in a statement, noted that both plants commenced preliminary production of petroleum products after successful test-runs, adding that while PHRC was ramping up its operation to about 60 per cent of its 210,000 barrels per day capacity, WRPC production was projected to hit 80 per cent of its installed 125,000bpd capacity.

The NNPC said the Port Harcourt refinery was projected to boost the nation’s local refining capacity with a product yield of five million litres of petrol per day, while Warri refinery would contribute 3.5 million litres of petrol.

Providing insight into the rehabilitation exercise, the NNPC noted that it had to adopt the phased rehabilitation strategy after the Original Refinery Builders, who were initially contacted for the project came up with unfavorable terms.

It said, “Though a decision was taken in 2011 to rehabilitate all the refineries using the ORB of each of the refineries, we were impelled to switch strategy after the ORBs declined participation and nominated some partners in their stead who came up with outrageously unfavorable terms.”

The NNPC stated that the nominated partners, as sole-bidders, came up with humongous price offers after two years of thorough and exhaustive scope of work definition and price negotiations.

It added that the proxies were also unwilling to provide post rehabilitation performance guarantees.

The corporation said, “The phased rehabilitation strategy which entailed phased and simultaneous rehabilitation of all the refineries using in-house and locally available resources in line with the spirit and letter of the Nigerian Content Law, also involved the use of Original Equipment Manufacturer representatives to effect major equipment overhaul and rehabilitation.”

The national oil firm said the phased rehabilitation programme, which started in October 2014 after the required funding stream was established, created a 70 per cent reduction in costs which helped largely in mitigating the financing challenges of refinery rehabilitation.

It observed that with the successful re-streaming of the PHRC and WRPC, attention has now moved to the 110,000 barrels per day Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company which was billed to come on stream soon.

http://www.punchng.com/news/pharcourt-warri-refineries-commence-preliminary-operations-nnpc/

saintopus:
Dec 06, 2024
The PH Refinery ships its first export of petroleum products to Dubai.
The company is expected to load the cargo in the coming days onboard the Wonder Star MR1 ship, signalling the commencement of operations at the plant and the exportation of petroleum products.

The ship will load 15,000 metric tons of the product, which translates to about 13.6 million litres.

Although the volume coming from the NNPC into the global market is still small, the development has the potential to impact the Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) benchmarks in the future while changing the market realities for Atlantic Basin exporters into Nigeria and other regions.

The sulfur content of the export by NNPC stands at 0.26 per cent per wt and a 0.918 g/ml density at 15°C, according to Kpler, a data and analysis company.

The cargo was reportedly sold at an $8.50/t discount to the NWE 0.5 per cent benchmark on a Free on Board (FOB) basis.

Kpler reported that the development would help displace imports from traditional suppliers in Africa and Europe, as Nigeria’s falling clean product (CPP) imports are already decreasing, dragging imports into the wider West Africa region lower as well.

https://guardian.ng/energy/nnpc-begins-export-from-ph-refinery-as-dubai-firm-buys-first-cargo/

MIKOLOWISKA:
if he does them importers will checkmate him. This is simple demand and supply check and balance of a free market

dawnomike:
Importers will have no choice but to align eventually... We must support local production that fuels our economy and provides employment opportunities.

We can only hope Dangote will not turn up price on us later on.

dre11:
https://newtelegraphng.com/pms-importers-face-n1-77trn-loss-over-marketers-preference-for-local-products/