Petrol Demand Slumps 25% Despite Lower Pump Prices
According to the NMDPRA’s latest fact sheet, average daily petrol volumes trucked out into the domestic market dropped from 47.4 million litres in June to 35.7 million litres in July.
The decline represented the sharpest month-on-month drop in the year-long consumption trend monitored by the regulator and the lowest level recorded since at least July 2025.
Petroleum marketers attributed the fall in demand to the rising cost of refined petroleum products, weaker consumer purchasing power and seasonal factors, particularly heavy rainfall, which they said discouraged road travel.
July’s consumption was also well below the 2026 daily demand benchmark of 50 million litres, with demand remaining below the benchmark in five of the first seven months of the year.
The decline came despite lower petrol prices across all eight cities monitored by the NMDPRA. Average pump prices fell by about five per cent between June and July.
Enugu recorded the largest reduction, with the average price dropping from N1,355.50 to N1,256 per litre, representing a 7.3 per cent decline.
Maiduguri recorded the smallest reduction, with prices falling from N1,393 to N1,345 per litre, or 3.4 per cent.
Lagos remained the cheapest of the cities monitored, with its average petrol price falling from N1,284.50 in June to N1,204 per litre in July.
The price decline occurred despite a rise in international gasoline prices, which increased from $988.24 per metric tonne in June to $1,094.67 in July.
The naira also weakened slightly against the dollar during the period, with the NFEM FIX rate moving from N1,366.82 to N1,373.25 per dollar.
Dated Brent crude, however, fell marginally from $85.47 to $83.41 per barrel.
The NMDPRA data further showed that petrol supply tightened during the month, as daily receipts from domestic refineries fell by 21 per cent, from 32.5 million litres in June to 25.8 million litres in July.
Imports increased by nine per cent in July, partly cushioning the decline in domestic refinery supplies.
Meanwhile, all three NNPCL-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna remained non-operational throughout the month.
Despite the decline in supply and consumption, national petrol stock sufficiency improved from 19.7 days in June to 22.4 days in July.
The figure, however, remained below the NMDPRA’s minimum stock sufficiency threshold of 30 days.
