The volume of Nigeria’s Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) or petrol imports fell further in September 2025, despite Dangote Refinery undergoing maintenance and facing a strike that affected production.
According to Argus Media, Nigeria received 116,000 barrels per day of seaborne petrol last month, down from 154,000 barrel per day in August.
The publication noted that the figure was the lowest in eight years, citing Kpler records that began in 2017.
The continuous decline occurred even as the 650,000 barrels per day capacity Dangote Refinery undertook maintenance on its petrol-yielding Residue Fluid Catalytic Cracking (RFCC) unit, and faced disruption by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and received low amounts of crude.
Net petrol imports also slumped to a new low of 38,000 barrels per day in September, after cargoes were notably loaded from Dangote for New York Harbor.
Total petrol loadings from Nigeria were their second-highest on record at 77,000 barrel per day.
Dangote’s RFCC was taken offline on September 2 and is due to return fully online in early October.
Towards the end of September a dispute between the refinery and PENGASSAN led to a two-day strike that disrupted natural gas and crude supply. This was resolved at the start of October by the federal government.
Argus tracking showed 375,000 barrels per day of crude arrived in September, down from 440,000 barrels per day in August.
However, the medium reported that there was no local petrol supply shortages reported in September, and petrol asking prices at the Dangote refinery were broadly steady around N820 per litre.
Naira-denominated domestic petrol sales were further bolstered by the resumption of the Naira-for-Crude programme, under which Dangote pays local currency for domestic crude grades sourced from state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, and sells petrol and diesel to the local market in Naira.
Recall that there was a one-day suspension of the sales by Dangote on September 25 and it was resolved by the government, the next day on September 26.
Dangote said domestic petrol demand was 40 million liters per day in September.