Nigeria’s petrol imports have reduced to their lowest level in eight years, a substantial shift which can be clearly seen to be associated with the ramp-up in production at the Dangote Refinery.
Africa’s biggest oil-producing country, traditionally reliant on imported fuel to meet domestic demand, has seen a marked decline in the volume of petrol entering the country, showing signs of a transformative phase for the Nigerian energy sector.
Shipments into the West African nation stood at about 110,000 barrels-a-day during January 1-24, data compiled by Bloomberg from analytics youfirm Vortexa Ltd revealed.
Bloomberg calculations showed if that rate were to continue for the rest of the month, the country’s imports, which mostly come from Europe, would hit their lowest since 2017.
Dangote is bigger than any other refinery in Europe or Africa and has been touted as a way for Nigeria long reliant on petrol imports to become independent on foreign supplies.
Stockpiles of gasoline held in independent storage in Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp, a key exporting hub for barrels to Nigeria have meanwhile hit a record high, according to figures from Insights Global.
According to the recent competency centre daily energy data released by the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, the on-spot estimated import parity into tanks was N922.65 per litre.
The average cost for 30 days stood at N939.52 per litre.