Nigeria recorded its lowest petrol imports on record in August, even as one of its key refining units underwent a two-week turnaround.
Vessel-tracking data from Kpler showed seaborne petrol arrivals into Nigeria dropped by 25% to 105,000 barrels per day (b/d), down from June’s record low of 116,000 b/d. The Netherlands and Togo supplied about one-third of the cargoes, while imports from the EU, UK, and Norway slumped to just 65,000 b/d—the weakest level on Kpler records since 2017.
Despite the refinery outage, local supply remained stable. Market participants said Dangote Refinery and other domestic plants held enough reserves to cushion the sharp fall in imports.
Nigeria’s petrol exports also collapsed. Outbound flows, which stood at 193,000 b/d in August 2024, plunged to 879,000 barrels in August 2025—the lowest ever tracked. Analysts blamed subdued local demand and weaker US petrol imports, which reduced opportunities to move barrels from West Africa to the US Atlantic coast.
Togo has reinforced its role as a re-export hub. Deliveries into Nigeria in August hit their highest since July 2020, with year-to-date flows averaging 109,000 b/d, compared with just 1.4% last year.
Globally, margins turned bullish in early September. Benchmark petrol cracks rose to $19.83 per barrel against front-month Brent on 4 September, lifted partly by the outage at Nigeria’s 285,000 b/d RFCC unit. Petrol imports into Nigeria for early September were estimated at 134,000 b/d, slightly above August levels but still well below historical averages.
