A year ago, petrol was the single most expensive item on Nigeria’s import ledger, consuming over 20% of the entire import bill.
That dominance has now collapsed in spectacular fashion, with the fuel dropping entirely off the country’s list of top ten imports.
The shift amounts to trillions of naira rerouted away from foreign refineries and toward domestic producers in a single quarter.
Nigeria’s latest trade data captures a structural transformation in how Africa’s most populous nation fuels itself, with implications that stretch well beyond its borders.
Nigeria’s petrol import spending fell from ₦2.27 trillion to ₦87 billion
Between January and March 2026, Nigeria spent just ₦87.40 billion importing petrol, a 96.15% year-on-year collapse from the ₦2.27 trillion recorded during the same quarter of 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics reported in its Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics released on June 8, 2026.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the decline was even steeper, with petrol imports falling 97.53% from ₦3.54 trillion recorded in Q4 2025.
Petrol’s share of total imports shrank to just 0.64% in Q1 2026, compared with 13.64% in Q1 2025 and 20.52% in the preceding quarter, Nairametrics reported.
How the Dangote Refinery reshaped Nigeria’s fuel supply chain
The dramatic import decline traces directly to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s accelerating output throughout the first quarter of the year.
Data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority showed that local refinery supply surged to 3.18 billion liters in Q1 2026, up 59.2% from 1.996 billion liters in Q1 2025, Nairametrics noted.
Imported petrol volumes fell to 965.52 million liters in Q1 2026, compared with an estimated 2.43 billion liters in the year-ago period, representing a 60.2% volume decline.
Dangote Refinery CEO David Bird highlighted the facility’s growing global export footprint at the S&P Global Energy Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in London on June 2, 2026.
“We’re very grateful to be seen as a reliable, high-quality and dependable supplier able to land our product competitively all over the world.” — David Bird, CEO, Dangote Petroleum Refinery, speaking about the refinery’s surplus jet fuel exports
Bird also said Nigeria had shifted from a fuel shortage to a fuel surplus since the Dangote Refinery began operations, CNBC Africa reported.
Nigeria’s broader import bill also contracted by 18% in Q1 2026
The petrol import collapse contributed to a wider contraction in Nigeria’s total import bill, which fell to ₦13.62 trillion from ₦16.64 trillion year-on-year.
The NBS data showed that total fuels and lubricants imports dropped 58.80% to ₦2.51 trillion in Q1 2026, down from ₦6.10 trillion in Q1 2025.
Within that category, processed fuels and lubricants recorded an 87.67% contraction to ₦605.53 billion, reflecting the near-total elimination of refined fuel purchases abroad.
Key figures from the NBS Q1 2026 trade report
- Total trade stood at ₦34.79 trillion, with exports accounting for ₦21.17 trillion and imports at ₦13.62 trillion
- Trade surplus widened to ₦7.55 trillion, a 340.88% increase from the preceding quarter, the NBS indicated
- Crude oil remained Nigeria’s top export commodity, valued at ₦11.20 trillion or 52.92% of total exports
- Machinery and transport equipment replaced fuels as the largest import category at ₦5.01 trillion or 36.79% of imports
- China retained its position as Nigeria’s largest source of imports at 37.42% of total imports, the report confirmed
What Nigeria’s fuel import shift signals for the broader economy
The scale of the petrol import decline represents one of the sharpest structural shifts in Nigeria’s trade composition in recent memory.
Industry analysts attributed the declining import volumes partly to weaker offshore trading prices at the Lome hub and a strengthening naira, with S&P Global’s Platts division confirming that ship-to-ship prices had weakened in early 2026, ThisDay reported.
However, the transition has not been without friction for Nigerian consumers navigating persistent volatility in pump prices across the country.
Nigeria’s fuel surplus now reaches global markets from Europe to Saudi Arabia
The Dangote Refinery’s growing exports have transformed Nigeria from one of Africa’s largest fuel importers into a competitive exporter reaching multiple continents.
Exports from the refinery climbed to 353,000 barrels per day in April 2026 from 168,000 barrels in February, with roughly half flowing to other African nations, according to data from analytics firm Kpler cited by CNBC Africa.
The refinery now ships products to the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, the United States, and Saudi Arabia, alongside five African nations.
For Nigerian consumers, the transition means fuel availability has improved dramatically, even as price volatility tied to global crude benchmarks persists as a challenge.
