Nigeria exported Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, worth N371.54bn in the second quarter of 2025, marking the first recorded shipment of the product after the Dangote Petroleum Refinery came online. The breakthrough follows the commencement of operations at the refinery, Africa’s largest single-train refining complex.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that petrol accounted for 1.63 per cent of Nigeria’s total exports in the quarter. This was a remarkable shift for a country long dependent on imports due to the chronic dormancy of state-owned refineries. No petrol exports were recorded in either the previous quarter or the same period in 2024.
Analysis of the trade figures revealed that only N85.83bn, representing 23.1 per cent of petrol exports, went to Africa. All of it was concentrated in West Africa, specifically within the Economic Community of West African States. The remaining 76.9 per cent was shipped to destinations outside the continent, suggesting that markets in Asia and the Middle East drove the refinery’s early sales.
Within Nigeria’s regional export mix, petrol represented 2.89 per cent of shipments to Africa, 4.36 per cent to West Africa, and 4.45 per cent to ECOWAS. Globally, it ranked as Nigeria’s ninth-largest export in Q2 2025, but within West Africa, it rose to fifth place and fourth within ECOWAS.
Petrol imports persist
Despite the milestone, Nigeria remained a net importer of petrol. Imports stood at N2.38tn in Q2 2025—down 45.56 per cent from N4.36tn in Q2 2024, but still nearly 6.4 times the value of exports. Compared to N1.76tn in Q1 2025, imports rose by 34.89 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Cumulatively, Nigeria imported N4.14tn worth of petrol in the first half of 2025, compared to N8.18tn in the same period of 2024, representing a 49.41 per cent decline. Analysts believe the increasing local refining output will gradually reduce the country’s dependence on foreign suppliers.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, confirmed that the refinery exported about 1.35 billion litres of petrol between June and July 2025, equivalent to one million tonnes. Speaking at the recent Global Commodity Insights Conference on West African Refined Fuel Markets, organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in partnership with S&P Global, Dangote declared that Nigeria had become a net exporter of refined products.
“From June to date, we have exported about one million tonnes of PMS within just 50 days,” Dangote said, noting that the refinery also began shipping aviation fuel to Europe and Saudi Arabia.
S&P Global reported that gasoline exports from the refinery spiked to roughly 90,000 barrels per day in June 2025, reaching markets as far as Oman, Singapore, and Malaysia. However, production outages and maintenance on its catalytic cracking unit limited volumes in the early months.
Under a naira-for-crude deal with the government, the refinery is obliged to supply fixed volumes of refined products domestically. This is critical amid concerns that the refinery’s export drive could undermine local supply.
Dangote dismissed allegations of monopolising the downstream sector, arguing that his company was investing heavily to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imports. “Too many people with the means to contribute prefer to criticise from the sidelines while investing abroad. Our focus is to build energy independence for Nigeria and Africa,” he said.
The NMDPRA noted that Nigeria and other West African countries still import around 69 per cent of their petrol needs. According to the agency’s Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, an average of 2.05 million metric tonnes of petrol is traded monthly in the region, with the bulk sourced from overseas.
This underscores the challenge Nigeria faces: while Dangote’s refinery has changed the narrative by creating export flows, demand still outstrips supply locally.
Nigeria’s refined products are already finding traction in the United States, which imported about 630,000 barrels per day of petroleum in Q2 2025. Industry sources say the US is a promising destination given that Dangote’s fuel meets its quality specifications. Other major buyers of US imports in the quarter included the Netherlands, Canada, and India.
President Bola Tinubu has framed the refinery’s output as part of a wider African push to reshape global energy markets. Writing on his official X handle recently, Tinubu said, “Africa can no longer remain a price taker for its resources. It is time to establish credible, transparent benchmarks that reflect our realities and protect our economies.”
He added that Nigeria is working with regional partners to establish an integrated market that secures domestic energy access, rewards African production, and deepens cross-border prosperity.
The emergence of petrol exports represents a structural shift in Nigeria’s energy trade. For decades, petrol dominated import bills without appearing in the export ledger. With Dangote now shipping products globally, Nigeria is evolving into both a supplier to regional markets and a participant in the global refined products trade.
Analysts say that as the refinery ramps up output, Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings will improve, import dependence will ease, and the country’s position as West Africa’s energy hub will be strengthened.
punch.ng
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