Petrol Consumption Drops to 47.3m Litres Daily In March Amid Increased Import—NMDPRA

Nigeria’s Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), domestic consumption fell to 47.3 million litres per day (ML/D) in March 2026 from 56.9 million litres per day in February.

This is the importation of PMS, commonly known as petrol, increased to 5.9 million litres per day from 3.0 million litres per day in February despite the reduced consumption level.

Data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Factsheet for March 2026, released on Tuesday, indicated that this rise occurred as Petrol consumption declined to 47.3 million litres per day from 56.9 million litres per day the previous month.

The report also showed that domestic PMS supply decreased to 34.2 million litres per day from 36.5 million litres per day.

Overall PMS supply reached 40.1 million litres per day, up from 39.5 million litres per day.
Stock sufficiency for PMS stood at 21.2 days, compared to 30.7 days in February.

Nationally, PMS sufficiency averaged 21 days for March, measured against a daily benchmark of 50 million litres per day.

Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), or diesel, supply decreased to 10.3 million litres per day from 24.4 million litres per day. Domestic AGO output fell to 3.9 million litres per day from 8.8 million litres per day, while imports dropped to 6.4 million litres per day from 15.6 million litres per day. AGO consumption was 14.5 million litres per day, down from 20.3 million litres per day. Stock sufficiency improved to 55.4 days from 47.6 days. National AGO sufficiency averaged 55 days against a benchmark of 14 million litres per day.

LPG and ATK Supply and Consumption Details 

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply remained at 4.7 thousand tonnes per day (KT/D). Domestic LPG production increased to 4.5 thousand tonnes per day from 4.0 thousand tonnes per day, while imports decreased to 0.2 thousand tonnes per day from 0.7 thousand tonnes per day. LPG consumption was 5.1 thousand tonnes per day, slightly down from 5.2 thousand tonnes per day, with national sufficiency at 14 days against a benchmark of 3,900 thousand tonnes per day.

Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) consumption decreased to 2.1 million litres per day from 2.9 million litres per day. National ATK sufficiency averaged 109 days against a benchmark of 3 million litres per day.

According to the report, Domestic gas supply rose to 4.888 billion standard cubic feet per day (Bscf/d) from 4.771 billion standard cubic feet per day. This includes volumes supplied to Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).

National fuel sufficiency for March averaged 21 days for petrol (PMS), 55 days for diesel (AGO), 109 days for aviation fuel (ATK), and 14 days for LPG.

On Refinery Performance Updates, the report showed that Dangote Refinery recorded 93.62 percent capacity utilisation. It produced 48.2 million litres per day of PMS, with 34.2 million litres per day supplied domestically. For AGO, production was 16.5 million litres per day, with 2.2 million litres per day for domestic supply.

State-owned refineries reported no active operations. Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC) was shut down, though evacuation of AGO from prior production averaged 0.048 million litres per day. Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) was shut down. Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) was shut down.
Waltersmith Refinery Train 2 continued the introduction of hydrocarbons, a process ongoing from February.

The NMDPRA stated that consumption figures represent volumes trucked out into the domestic market. Daily benchmarks for 2026 are 50 million litres per day for petrol (PMS), 14 million litres per day for diesel (AGO), 3 million litres per day for aviation fuel (ATK), and 3,900 thousand tonnes per day for LPG.