Dangote Refinery raises concerns over continued issuance of import licenses for petroleum products
Lagos, Aug. 2026 – The Dangote Refinery on Wednesday raised concerns over the continued issuance of import licenses for petroleum products in spite of availability of local refining capacity to meet local demands for petroleum products.
The company raised its concerns in a statement on Wednesday, saying that available statistics indicated that imported petrol accounted for about 43 per cent of fuel supplied to the Nigerian market in July.
It urging the regulator to provide clearer data on import licences, as continued large-scale imports could create uncertainty for domestic production and inventory planning
The company said while it remained committed to supporting Nigeria’s energy security and ensuring uninterrupted fuel availability nationwide, the volume of imported petrol entering the market had created uncertainty in domestic demand planning and inventory management.
The refinery said that it had consistently maintained sufficient inventory levels and reserved product volumes to guarantee a steady supply to the Nigerian market.
It said the lack of transparency about the actual volume of imported products entering the country had made effective production and inventory planning increasingly challenging.
“Maintaining large stock positions without clear visibility into import volumes imposes substantial carrying costs on the refinery and ultimately undermines efficient market operations,” it said.
The company said it had become commercially unsustainable to continue holding excess inventory indefinitely in the face of current developments in the country.
“As a responsible energy provider, we have always endeavoured to keep adequate reserves to satisfy local demand at all times. However, in an environment where significant volumes of imported PMS continue to enter the market through licences issued by the regulator, and where there is limited visibility on future import volumes, it had become commercially unsustainable to continue holding excess inventory indefinitely
It said the under these circumstances, any surplus products not immediately absorbed by the domestic market must be exported to regional and international markets.
“Consequently, DPRP’s export volumes have increased in recent months, not because local demand cannot be met, but because excess inventory generated by market uncertainty must be evacuated to avoid unnecessary storage and financing costs,” the company said.
It, however, said it remained ready, willing, and able to meet and exceed Nigeria’s petroleum product requirements and would continue to invest heavily to ensure a reliable supply across the country.
