Domestic crude supply to Nigeria’s refineries declined to 15.84 million barrels in May 2026, even as the facilities achieved a combined intake of 17.92 million barrels for the month, according to the latest midstream and downstream statistics released by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The NMDPRA fact sheet for May 2026 shows a noticeable drop in locally sourced crude compared to the previous month, when domestic supply stood at 17.96 million barrels in April. Imports remained minimal at 2.08 million barrels in May, meaning domestic crude still accounted for the vast majority of the total volume processed by the country’s refineries.
This development has raised fresh concerns within the industry, coming amid allegations of sabotage in the crude supply chain, with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery pointing to possible deliberate disruptions affecting reliable delivery of local crude to domestic facilities.
Despite the dip in domestic crude availability, Nigerian refineries demonstrated notable resilience. The data indicates that domestic crude continued to dominate supply, representing around 88.4 per cent of total receipts in May.
This reflects ongoing progress in reducing the nation’s historical reliance on imported crude, although the month-on-month decline from April has sparked questions about the consistency of local feedstock delivery.
