NMDPRA statistics showed that petrol imports fell sharply in the primary quarter of 2026, during the time that regional refineries supplied concerning 3.18 billion litres during the period.
The developments highlight the policy counter facing Nigeria: protecting and expanding domestic refining whereas maintaining sufficient competition and deliver options for consumers.
Nigeria’s refinery owners have called for a progressive ban on petroleum solution imports and entire implementation of the Naira-for-Crude policy to support nearby refining, even as the Federal High Court in Abuja arranged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to persist granting import licences to eligible oil marketers.
The contrasting developments have renewed contend over how Nigeria can balance domestic refining together with competition and fuel furnish security.
Speaking at the 3rd Nigeria Oil Refining Summit in Lagos on Monday, President of the Crude Oil Refinery Owners Relationship of Nigeria (CORAN), Momoh Oyarekhua, said Nigeria must increasingly use its crude oil to feed domestic refineries rather than export crude and import polished products.
He called for a progressive restriction of petroleum item imports as community refining capacity expands, alongside entire implementation of the Naira-for-Crude policy.
Oyarekhua additionally demanded a fresh domestic crude pricing template that reflects crude quality, delivery location, avoided international logistics costs and existing domestic evacuation expenses.
He urged stronger enforcement of the Domestic Crude Deliver Obligation under Element 109 of the Petroleum Sector Act, whilst allowing commercially possible arrangements amid producers and refiners.
According to him, crude swaps and proximity-based deliver arrangements should be encouraged so that producers can supply terminate refineries minus unnecessary transportation throughout distant export infrastructure.
He too proposed a Refinery Development Financing Framework offering enduring-term financing, guarantees and refinancing mechanisms for refinery construction and expansion.
Oyarekhua said this should be complemented by investment in shared infrastructure, including pipelines, depots, storage terminals, jetties and rail evacuation systems.
He additional called for strategic petroleum solution reserves to cushion temporary refinery shutdowns, maintenance periods and cross-border grant disruptions.
The CORAN president said regulatory and fiscal incentives should furthermore be provided for refinery expansion, precisely conversion units skilled of increasing domestic production of petrol, aviation fuel, cooking gas and other products.
“The country must now support the refinery, support the pipeline and support the storage terminals,” he said.
He argued that Nigeria should halt exporting crude, jobs and economic opportunities whereas importing elegant products, stressing that domestic crude should increasingly power area refineries and sooner or later opinion Nigeria as a refining hub for Africa.
Chairman of the Self-governing Petroleum Producers Unit (IPPG), Adegbite Falade, said Nigeria could reliably deliver domestic refineries if it increased crude production, cautious evacuation infrastructure and matched crude grades alongside refinery configurations.
Falade identified increased production, modern evacuation infrastructure, a available domestic crude promote and the development of Nigeria as a district refining and petrochemical hub as key priorities.
He said the country needed dedicated crude evacuation corridors, regular pipelines, sufficient terminals, storage facilities, functional jetties and streamlined marine logistics.
Meanwhile, the Federal High Court ruling has affirmed the right of eligible oil marketers to secure petroleum solution import licences.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in his judgment, held that NMDPRA’s refusal to topic or renew import licences for Matrix Energy, AA Rano and AYM Shafa was inconsistent including the Petroleum Business area Act.
The court declared that upon meeting statutory and regulatory requirements, the companies were entitled to the issuance, extension or renewal of petroleum solution import licences.
Justice Ekwo directed NMDPRA to persist granting, issuing, extending, renewing or reissuing connected licences for petroleum solution imports to the plaintiffs once all legal conditions were fulfilled.
The court furthermore held that the PIA requires the regulator to progress competition in the midstream and downstream petroleum sectors and block restrictive firm practices and abuse of dominant positions.
The marketers had argued that the refusal to grant licences was restricting competition and potentially entrenching dominance by area refineries.
In an affidavit, AA Rano Executive Supervisor, Sabiu Saidu Mahuta, said the three companies had collectively invested greater than $20bn in infrastructure, logistics and retail networks.
Their lawyer, Ahmed Raji, argued that allowing imports alongside nearby production would encourage competition, discourage monopoly and value-fixing, and perfect the downstream promote.
The ruling comes as domestic refining continues to broaden.
