The Federal Government has halted the issuance of import licenses for gasoline, a major win for billionaire Aliko Dangote, who controls Africa’s largest refinery and has long called for the move.
This decision is coming on the heels of data supplied by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) which stated that Dangote supplied 61.78 per cent of the country’s February petrol consumption.
Oil marketing firms including a unit of TotalEnergies SE, Conoil Plc and MRS Nigeria Plc, which imported 25per cent of the nation’s gasoline in January, had their licenses suspended.
A new policy has been introduced that bars the issuance of import licenses “where local production is sufficient,” and they will now only be granted when needed — which is not currently the case, George Ene-Ita, the regulator’s spokesman, said by phone on Tuesday.
Dangote, Africa’s richest person, previously sued the regulator, the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Co., and several fuel importers in a bid to halt imports, saying they weren’t needed. He withdrew the case after his frosty relationship with the authorities improved, but kept up his attacks on the head of the regulatory agency, who President Bola Tinubu replaced in November.
His refinery, which can process 650,000 barrels of crude a day, is currently running at 78% capacity, the regulator said. The plant outside of Lagos supplied 64per cent of Nigeria’s gasoline requirement last month, leaving a daily deficit of 20 million liters that was covered by previously imported stock, Ene-Ita said.
Prior to the opening of the Dangote refinery, Africa’s top oil producer exported crude for decades while importing refined petroleum products — a practice the tycoon capitalized on to build political support for his plant. The facility continues to hold an import license, using it to bring in components needed to make some blended fuels, the regulator said.
The regulator’s fuel imports data was collated before the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The ensuing war has upended oil markets and prompted Dangote to raise fuel prices three times within a week.
A spokesperson for Dangote refinery said the refinery wasn’t importing refined petroleum, and the Nigerian fuel marketers’ association didn’t respond to questions seeking comment.
NMDPRA, in its Factsheet on the state of the Midstream and Downstream sector February 2026, said of the 64.9million litres per day of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) consumed in Nigeria in February 2026, Dangote PHRC, 40.1ml/d was from the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP), representing 61.78 per cent of the product.
The Factsheet noted that it was an indication that 38.22 per cent of the product, being 24.8ml/d was imported since no other domestic refinery had capacity for producing PMS.
It showed that during the period under review, the national consumption of PMS was 60.02ml/d.
According to NMDPRA, PMS stock sufficiency was 32.9 days.
The factsheet disclosed that 18.9 ml/d of the Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) diesel was supplied to the domestic market in February while the national consumption was 19.2ml/d.
The document said there was 34.2m/d stock sufficiency of AGO.
For the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), NMDPRA said 5.1 KT/D was supplied to the Nigeria’s market while 4.837Bscf/day of domestic natural gas was supplied to the same market.
The factsheet disclosed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) refineries were shutdown in the period under review.
It said there was however evacuation of the 0.392ml/d of AGO that was produced while the Port Harcourt Refinery Company was operational.
“PHRC: Shut down. However, evacuation of AGO produced while the refinery was operational averaged
0.392 million litres/day,” NMDPRA said.
Similarly, the factsheet said the Kaduna Refinery Petrochemicals Company (KPRC) was shutdown in February except for its production of 0.027ml/d of diesel supplied to the domestic market.
The Authority said: “KRPC: Shut down. However, closure of refinery, AGO averaged at 0.027 ML/D was trucked out to the domestic market.”
