Petrol Imports Decline in June – Marketers
Nigeria’s import of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, by oil marketers fell to a record low in June, majorly driven by a ramp-up in output from the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery, new data has shown.
An Argus report quoting Kpler tracking data on Tuesday said rising output from the Dangote refinery sharply reduced demand for the product from European Union countries, the United Kingdom, and Norway, traditional suppliers of refined petrol to Nigeria.
Kpler data indicated that June marked the lowest level of petrol shipments from Europe to Nigeria since tracking began, highlighting the growing impact of local refining on the country’s fuel import profile.
The drop in purchases by Nigerian importers pulled overall West African imports of European gasoline to a four-month low of 926,000 metric tonnes, down from 1.315 million metric tonnes in May and 20 per cent lower year-on-year.
It added that the country, long the region’s largest gasoline importer, slipped behind Togo last month as the Dangote refinery hit its highest monthly run rate since coming online.
The country is approaching a turning point in its gasoline trade balance. June arrivals into Nigeria from Europe fell by 56 per cent on the month to 231,000 metric tonnes, the lowest recorded by Kpler.
It also imported 28,000 metric tonnes from offshore Lome and 12,000 metric tonnes from Houston, making a total of 271,000 metric tonnes, an equivalent of 363,411,000 litres. At the same time, Dangote loaded a record 252,000 metric tonnes of petrol for export last month.
The report also revealed that the refinery exported products to Oman, Malaysia, and the Ivory Coast. This included 90,000 metric tonnes exported via the Pis Kerinci to Sohar, Oman; 89,000 metric tonnes on the Hafnia Larissa to Pasir Gudang, Malaysia; 35,000 metric tonnes on the Sabaek to Abidjan, Ivory Coast; and a further 39,000 metric tonnes aboard the Sabaek, which has yet to discharge.
The country could be on the verge of flipping to net exporter status, given that the Dangote refinery has “extra plant capacity to produce gasoline”, according to Dangote Group Executive Director Edwin Devakumar.
The plant’s naphtha hydrotreating unit has “flexibility to achieve additional production”, and Dangote has recently begun buying naphtha to support gasoline output, he said.
Edwin noted that the refinery expects to rely entirely on Nigerian crude oil by the end of 2025, potentially displacing hundreds of thousands of barrels of imported crude daily. This is according to a new report by Bloomberg.
According to the report, the refinery received about half of its crude in June from local producers who will be able to sell more to the facility as their foreign supply obligations end.
He said, “We expect some of the long-term contracts will expire. Personally, and as a company, we expect that before the end of the year, we can transition 100 per cent to local crude.”
Since the Dangote facility opened, the company has bought crude from Brazil, Angola, Ghana, and Equatorial Guinea, according to Edwin. Improved relations between the refinery, local oil traders, and the government will result in a steady supply of Nigerian crude, he said.
That still requires a significant increase in local oil over the coming months. In June, the refinery sourced 53 per cent of its crude supply from domestic producers and 47 per cent from the US, according to Bloomberg.
The plant is currently processing 550,000 barrels of crude a day, according to Edwin. Dangote was scheduled to take five cargoes from Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in July, the same amount that it’s due to take up in August, according to a list of cargo allocations.
Each shipment holds almost a million barrels of crude. This positive development comes amidst a recent report where the government was said to have sold crude oil valued at N219.38bn to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in the first four months of 2025.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee meetings documents between January and May 2025 showed that nine cargoes were delivered to Dangote refinery, totalling 1,901,850 barrels sourced from the Okwuibome field operated by Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company under Production Sharing Contracts and the Nigerian Agip Exploration.
The crude was sold at unit prices ranging from $74.87 to $80.34 per barrel, using exchange rates between N1,501.22/$ and N1,562.91/$. However, the FAAC report for June revealed that the Lekki-based $20bn refinery didn’t receive a single barrel of crude in May 2025. Within the same period, the government exported barrels of crude oil worth $71,494,762, an equivalent of N113.33bn.
The fall in Nigerian demand for gasoline imports, combined with weaker-than-expected US consumption, is raising concerns over outlet options for European gasoline this summer, a European trader told Argus. Europe remains a large net exporter of the product.
Benchmark non-oxy gasoline barge cracks to front-month Ice Brent crude futures averaged $14.73 per barrel between 1–4 July, broadly steady on the year and slightly up from $14.62 per barrel in the same period of 2024.
Meanwhile, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reduced its ex-depot petrol price to N820 per litre. According to PetroleumPrice.ng, the figure dropped by N20, representing a 2.15 per cent decline.
This marks the refinery’s lowest rate since March 14, when petrol briefly sold at N815 per litre. The cut, confirmed by marketers in Lagos and Warri, takes effect immediately. It is also Dangote’s eleventh price adjustment so far in 2025.
