Marketers spent about N120 billion ferrying 3.51 million tonnes of fuel to Lagos depots from Lome Port between January and April 2025.

The trend to import fuel from Lome Port was due to financial incentives to reduce tax and continue purchases in dollars, as the Nigerian government is now pushing for naira transactions.

Petrol imports from Togo surge

Investigations reveal that importers brought in 23,600 tonnes of petroleum products daily in January, 35,485.19 in February, 29,602.27 in March, and 939.585 in April 2025.

A report by S&P Global Commodities at Sea data shows that fuel imports to Nigeria and Togo rose from 200,000 barrels daily in January to over 300,000 barrels in March and 250,000 barrels in April.

The report said Togo is becoming increasingly essential for Nigerian imports as traders have drawn volumes to the Lome market, where supplies are loaded from large cargoes to smaller vessels.

Dangote Refinery and NNPC crash petrol prices

A recent report by Legit.ng shows that the Dangote Refinery slashed its ex-depot PMS prices significantly, from N835 to N825 per litre, as Nigeria battles to stabilise supplies and reduce dependence on fuel imports.

Similarly, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) reduced its retail petrol prices to N880 per litre in Lagos and N910 in Abuja.

The development comes as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said petrol imports have dropped in 2025.

NMDPRA explains the reason for reduced imports

NMDPRA said petrol imports reduced from 44.6 million litres daily in August last year to 14.7 million in April 2025, attributing it to contributions by local plants.

NMDPRA’s chief executive officer, Farouk Ahmed, disclosed that local supplies increased by 670% in the review period, citing increased production at the Port Harcourt refinery.

He said:

“After contributing virtually nothing in August, local plants delivered 26.2 million litres/day in early April, a jump from the 3.4 million litres recorded in September, the first month with measurable output.”

The New Telegraph reported that Ahmed stressed that despite the progress, the total local supply exceeded the government’s 50 million litres daily consumption target.