Nigeria plans to establish a national strategic petroleum products stockpile this year to protect its economy against international market disruptions, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority announced Tuesday.
Farouk Ahmed, head of the regulatory authority, said the reserve, mandated by the country’s oil law, would enhance energy security and help mitigate supply shocks. Despite being an oil-rich nation, Nigeria frequently experiences fuel shortages and long queues at filling stations.
The initiative aims to leverage expanding domestic refining capacity, particularly the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Refinery, to build resilience against global supply fluctuations. While Nigeria currently maintains petroleum reserves covering approximately 30 days of supply, Ahmed said the new National Strategic Stock would be significantly larger, modeled after the United States’ Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The startup of the Dangote Refinery in September, along with five smaller refineries, has already reduced Nigeria’s gasoline imports from 50.8 million litres per day in September to 28.7 million litres per day last month. Currently operational local refineries are projected to process 770,500 barrels per day until June.
Regulators express optimism that continued refining expansion could eventually eliminate the need for gasoline imports entirely.
Source: Reuters
