Petrol consumption jumps 10.8% to 52.4m, defies higher pump prices

•Nigeria’s oil output rises to 1.663m

By Udeme Akpan, Energy Editor & Obas Esiedesa

Despite the increase in pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, Nigeria’s daily consumption increased by 10.78 per cent in April 2026 to 52.4 million litres, from 47.3 million litres recorded in March, according to data released by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.

Petrol prices averaged N1,370 per litre in April, representing an increase of about 13.8 per cent from the N1,180 per litre average recorded in March.

In its April 2026 report released yesterday, the regulator disclosed that combined petrol supply from the Dangote Refinery and imports also rose by 10.7 per cent to 44.4 million litres per day in April, compared to 40.1 million litres per day in March.

A breakdown of the figures showed that supply from the Dangote Refinery rose by 19 per cent to 40.7 million litres per day in April from 34.2 million litres per day in March, while petrol imports dropped sharply by 37.3 per cent to 3.7 million litres per day from 5.9 million litres per day in March.

The report further showed that imported crude oil declined by 95.65 per cent to 0.41 million barrels in April, from 9.43 million barrels recorded in March.

Similarly, crude oil supply from Nigerian upstream companies to local refineries increased by 56 per cent to 17.99 million barrels in April, compared to 11.48 million barrels supplied in March.

According to the NMDPRA, the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Refinery achieved 99.12 per cent capacity utilisation in April, while the government-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna remained inactive.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s crude oil output rose marginally to 1.663 million barrels per day, bpd, in April 2026 from 1.546 million bpd recorded in March, including condensates, according to data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

However, the country still failed to meet its 1.5 million bpd crude oil production quota approved by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

In its National Liquid Hydrocarbon Production Report released yesterday, the NUPRC disclosed that average daily crude oil production hovered around 1.4 million bpd, while total production, including condensates, stood at about 1.6 million bpd in April.

The development comes amid sustained efforts by the Federal Government and industry operators to ramp up production to two million bpd in order to boost revenue, strengthen foreign exchange earnings and support implementation of the 2026 budget.

The report indicated that Nigeria has yet to consistently meet its OPEC quota for crude oil production, while total output also remained below the 1.84 million bpd benchmark adopted in the 2026 budget. 

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