The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disbursed a total of $1.259 billion to oil sector players for the importation of petroleum products and other related items between January and March 2025.
This release comes amid the continued reliance on fuel importation by petroleum marketers, despite the increasing availability of locally refined petrol from the Dangote Refinery.
Fresh data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) revealed that petroleum marketers imported 69 per cent of the 21 billion litres of petrol consumed nationwide between August 2024 and the first 10 days of October 2025.
During the first quarter of 2025 alone, 2.28 billion litres of petrol were brought into the country, underscoring a lingering dependence on imports despite improved domestic refining capacity.
Fuel importation remains a major consumer of foreign exchange, with significant implications for Nigeria’s foreign reserves and the naira-to-dollar exchange rate. However, analysts note that the latest figures reflect one of the lowest quarterly import volumes in recent years — a sign of a gradual transition toward local refining and blending of petroleum products.
