Nigeria’s average daily petrol consumption stood at 41.5 million litres in August 2026, falling 8.5 million litres short of the 50 million litres daily benchmark, a review of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s (NMDPRA) August factsheet by Petroleumprice.ng has shown.
The regulator’s data showed that domestic petrol consumption reached about 83 percent of the benchmark, leaving a 17 per cent shortfall.
Aviation fuel consumption also fell below its benchmark, averaging 2.8 million litres daily against the 3 million-litre reference level. The difference of 200,000 litres represented a 6.7 percent shortfall, with consumption covering 93.3 per cent of the benchmark.
Diesel consumption, however, exceeded its daily benchmark of 14 million litres, averaging 14.3 million litres. The additional 300,000 litres represented a 2.1 percent increase above the reference level, bringing consumption to 102.1 per cent of the benchmark.
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption also exceeded its benchmark. Average daily consumption reached 4.8 thousand metric tonnes, compared with the reference level of 3.9 thousand tonnes. The difference of 900 tonnes represented a 23.1 percent increase. The NMDPRA noted that the LPG figures include propane.
The regulator defines consumption in the factsheet as the volume of petroleum products trucked out into the domestic market. The figures therefore measure domestic dispatches rather than direct purchases by final consumers.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery recorded average daily petrol production of 41.94 million litres during the period, while domestic receipts from the refinery averaged 35.87 million litres daily. Its petrol exports averaged 9.73 million litres per day, and closing petrol stock stood at 360.4 million litres as of August 31, 2026.
The factsheet also recorded petrol receipts from oil marketing companies and NNPC imports at 20.6 million litres daily, accounting for 40.9 percent in the relevant receipts breakdown. The figure indicates that imports remained part of the petrol supply mix covered by the regulator’s data alongside domestic refinery output.
Nigeria’s petrol stock sufficiency stood at 22.9 days, 7.1 days below the NMDPRA’s 30-day reference threshold. LPG stocks covered 17.2 days, also below the threshold, while diesel stocks provided 51.6 days of cover and aviation fuel stocks covered 82.3 days.
The August figures show that petrol consumption remained below the regulator’s daily benchmark, while diesel and LPG consumption exceeded their respective reference levels. They also indicate differing stock positions across the four products, with petrol and LPG below the 30-day threshold and diesel and aviation fuel above it.