Petrol supply falls 10% as NNPCL refineries remain shut

Nigeria’s daily petrol supply fell by 10 per cent in July to 45.5 million litres from 50.6 million litres in June, amid declining domestic receipts and continued closure of the three Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited-owned refineries, the NMDPRA has disclosed.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, in its latest fact sheet released on Monday, said domestic petrol receipts dropped by 21 per cent month-on-month, while imports rose by nine per cent to bridge the supply shortfall.

The regulator also reported a sharp decline in petrol consumption, which fell by 25 per cent to 35.7 million litres per day.

Despite the supply decline, national petrol stock sufficiency improved by 14 per cent to 22.4 days.

The figure, however, remained below the NMDPRA’s stated minimum threshold of 30 days.

The Dangote Refinery operated at an average capacity utilisation of 71.09 per cent in July, producing 25.9 million litres of petrol daily.

Of the refinery’s daily petrol output, 3.4 million litres were exported, according to the regulator.

The development came amid the continued shutdown of the three refineries owned by the NNPCL.

The Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries all remained shut throughout July, the NMDPRA stated.

Meanwhile, diesel supply recorded a stronger performance during the month.

The supply of automotive gas oil increased by 46 per cent to 23.6 million litres daily.

The improvement pushed diesel stock cover to 46.5 days.

The July figures highlight the continued dependence of the downstream petroleum sector on imports and private-sector refining capacity despite efforts to increase domestic production.

The Dangote Refinery remained the major source of locally refined petrol during the period covered by the report, while the NNPCL’s three refineries contributed no output because of their shutdown.