HARARE, April 15. /TASS/. Nigeria plans to establish a national strategic petroleum products stockpile Nigeria plans to establish a national strategic petroleum products stockpile this year to safeguard its economy against disruptions in the international market, Reuters reported with reference to Farouk Ahmed, head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority
According to him, the formation of such reserves, which the country's oil law mandates, would mitigate supply shocks and enhance the nation's energy security, the agency said.
Although ranks first in Africa in oil production, Nigeria often faces a shortage of fuel for sale and long queues at gas stations.
The country intends to increase resilience to fluctuations in global supplies of petroleum products by increasing national refining capacity, especially given the recent launch of billionaire Aliko Dangote's refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
Nigeria currently maintains reserves of petroleum products capable of covering needs for 30 days. According to Ahmed, the new reserves created following the example of the United States will be much larger. However, he did not provide specific data.
The laws allow the regulator to issue a license for the storage of large reserves of liquid fuel to private companies that can maintain them until they are needed.
The Dangote refinery, which was launched in September last year, and five smaller facilities have enabled Nigeria to reduce gasoline imports from 50.8 million liters per day in September 2024 to 28.7 million liters per day in March this year. Nigeria's combined refinery capacity is expected to grow to 770,500 barrels per day by June this year. The regulator hopes that the increase in oil refining will help Nigeria eventually abandon fuel imports altogether.