NUPRC
Domestic oil refineries in Nigeria completed transactions for 112 million barrels of crude oil out of 182 million barrels offered by upstream producers between January and August, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has revealed.
Speaking at the 3rd Nigeria Oil Refining Summit on Monday in Lagos, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC, stated that the 112 million barrels transacted represent 61.4 per cent of total offers, leaving an unexecuted gap of 70 million barrels.
Eyesan, represented by NUPRC Deputy Director Mr. Boma Atiyegoba, noted that total crude offered by producers significantly exceeded local demand. Refiners had declared a requirement of 154.6 million barrels over the eight-month period, meaning the 182 million barrels offered represented 118 per cent of their declared operational needs.
Addressing the 70-million-barrel shortfall between offers and finalized sales, Eyesan clarified that the gap should not be viewed as a operational breakdown.
“This gap is not a failure on either side. It is a shared commercial challenge,” Eyesan said.
She pointed to several commercial friction points stalling transaction completion, including pricing disputes, payment security concerns, crude specification mismatch, and delivery scheduling. Upstream producers remain focused on payment assurance, off-take consistency, and binding international export commitments, while refiners prioritize crude availability, precise delivery windows, and competitive pricing.
“The Commission is listening, and we are active,” Eyesan assured stakeholders, outlining regulatory steps to enhance demand-supply visibility, tighten compliance monitoring, and enforce Domestic Crude Supply Obligations (DCSO) under Section 109 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) where necessary.
To streamline logistical bottlenecks, the NUPRC head announced that stakeholder consultations have concluded on a proposed domestic crude swap framework.
Under the plan, upstream operators situated near offshore export terminals can swap their domestic supply obligations with producers located closer to onshore refining facilities, reducing transportation costs and transit times.
The regulator is also accelerating field development initiatives, well re-entry programs, and the optimisation of marginal assets to boost total national output.
“Domestic refining cannot thrive by distributing a shrinking cake. It must be fed by a growing one,” Eyesan stressed.
Echoing these views, Mr. Adegbite Falade, Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), emphasized that expanding national production is the only viable path to support the country’s growing refining capacity.
“Nigeria cannot refine barrels that are not produced,” Falade said, urging industry stakeholders to focus on output expansion rather than reallocating static reserves.
He further advocated for improved evacuation infrastructure and a transparent, investable market structure governed by willing-buyer, willing-seller commercial terms.
