The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) says Nigeria is working towards refining all of its crude oil locally by 2030 as domestic refining capacity expands.
The authority said the plan would involve allocating the country’s crude production to local refineries, reducing reliance on crude exports and imported petroleum products.
According to an S&P Global report, Nigeria produced about 1.74 million barrels of crude oil per day in June and is targeting production of three million barrels per day by 2030.
Nigeria’s domestic refining capacity currently stands at about 1.12 million barrels per day, according to the NMDPRA.
Rabiu Umar, NMDPRA Chief Executive Officer, said the government was working with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to enforce provisions requiring crude producers to supply the domestic market.
Umar said the Dangote refinery was contributing significantly to the expansion of local refining capacity, with plans to double its processing capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day.
He added that efforts were ongoing to address crude supply challenges faced by local refineries and ensure compliance with domestic crude supply obligations under the Petroleum Industry Act.
“The Federal Government wishes to end the pattern where much of the country’s crude [volumes] are exported and refined products imported,” Umar said.
“We are engaging the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to ensure that every molecule of our 3 million b/d that we hope to achieve in the coming years is refined locally.”
Data from the NUPRC published on August 10 showed that domestic refineries received 53.7 million barrels of Nigerian crude in the second quarter of 2026.
The Dangote refinery accounted for 52.6 million barrels of the volume.
The upstream regulator said the Dangote refinery had been offered 68.1 million barrels during the quarter, enough to meet its crude requirements fully.
The refinery has previously identified access to adequate and reliable crude supplies as one of the challenges affecting its operations, prompting it to source crude from international markets.
The NMDPRA said it was working with the NUPRC to ensure domestic crude supply obligations are implemented effectively.
A spokesperson for the NUPRC also confirmed that discussions were ongoing with relevant government agencies and crude suppliers on enforcing the domestic supply requirement.
“We have been holding meetings involving the NMDPRA, Ministry of Finance, and crude suppliers on the enforcement of this provision of the law,” the spokesperson said.
Under the Petroleum Industry Act, the NUPRC has the authority to impose domestic crude supply obligations on upstream operators and require a specified portion of their crude and condensate production to be supplied to local refiners.
In May, the NUPRC said upstream producers offered 68.7 million barrels of crude to domestic refiners in the first quarter of 2026 but supplied less than half of the volume.
The commission attributed the shortfall largely to differences over pricing between crude producers and domestic refiners.
The government says increasing local refining and ensuring adequate crude supply will help strengthen Nigeria’s energy security, reduce dependence on imported refined products and retain more value within the domestic economy.
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