In the bid to resolve the issues surrounding crude oil supply shortages to domestic refineries, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), are poised to hold strategic conversations with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

According to the NMDPRA, enhanced crude supply to local refineries has become imperative because Nigeria now boasts of about 1.125 million barrels a day (bpd) of installed refining capacity led by Dangote’s 700,000-bpd refinery, which has helped the West African nation transform into a net exporter of refined products.

It added that the Nigerian government is positive about refining all of her crude domestically, with the target production of 3 million barrels a day in the coming years in mind.

Nigeria still faces major structural constraints, including crude supply shortages, underperforming state-owned refineries and concerns over excessive dependence on Dangote.

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The director general (DG) of the Authority Rabiu Umar, dropped the hint in Lagos at the 49th annual conference of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council.

He explained that the federal government wants to end the pattern which sees more of locally produced crude exported, while refined products are imported.

“Every molecule of our three million barrels per day that we hope to achieve in the coming years will be refined locally,” Umar said.

To achieve that goal, the NMDPRA is working with the NUPRC to enforce domestic crude supply obligations. Nigerian petroleum law requires producers to supply part of their crude output to domestic refineries.

Umar called the requirement “really, really important” for supporting the expansion of Nigeria’s refining industry.

Nigeria now has 1.125 million barrels per day of installed refining capacity, according to the NMDPRA. The country reached that level for the first time in its history.

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP) provides the bulk of that capacity. The facility reached its 700,000-bpd nameplate capacity during tests in June.

The refinery has also helped Nigeria become a net exporter of refined petroleum products. Dangote supplies 80 percent of domestic demand while exporting products to West Africa and Europe, Nigeria Housing Market reported in May.

The agency’s 3 million-bpd production target represents almost twice Nigeria’s current output.

The NUPRC estimated June production at about 1.73 million bpd. Nigeria must therefore first almost double crude production before it can refine all of its output domestically. That expansion will require several years of investment.

However, refineries operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna are operating below capacity.

The NNPC Ltd acknowledged in November 2025 that the facilities cannot match Dangote’s fuel quality.

The DPRP is also planning expansion to 1.4 million bpd.

However, concerns remain over the risks that a single dominant refiner could pose to the country’s fuel supply, as Agence Ecofin reported in May.

State-owned refineries remain part of the strategy. Their combined potential capacity exceeds 300,000 bpd. Yet the facilities have failed to reach their full potential despite more than $25 billion in public investment between 2003 and 2023.

The NNPC Ltd is now seeking private partners that will receive payment only when the refineries actually produce.

The approach contrasts with the previous model, which paid companies to rehabilitate the facilities regardless of their operating performance.

With the Middle East Crisis defined by the US-Iran faceoff creating major disruptions to global oil markets, Nigeria has become the source of stabilising the Indian energy industry.

It was gathered that India’s state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) recently bought a total of four million barrels of Nigerian crude, even as the country’s refiners frantically sought alternative supply sources to survive the persistent crisis.

According to Reuters, HPCL purchased two million barrels of Nigerian crude through tenders in two separate transactions, with the latest deal involving one million barrels each of Forcados and Bonga crude grades bought from Shell.

The cargoes are expected to supply HPCL’s Visakh refinery in Andhra Pradesh, southern India, which has a crude processing capacity of 300,000 barrels per day. The latest purchase came after HPCL earlier acquired another two million barrels of Nigerian crude from commodity trader Glencore through a tender.

The earlier purchase comprised one million barrels each of Okwuibome and Utapate crude grades from Nigeria. The crude bought from Glencore will be supplied to HPCL’s Rajasthan refinery, HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited, which has a processing capacity of 180,000 barrels per day.

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According to Oilprice.com, HPCL owns a 74 percent stake in HRRL, while the remaining stake is held by the Rajasthan State Government.

The purchases highlight the growing demand for Nigerian crude among Indian refiners as supplies from the Middle East remain disrupted by shipping constraints around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb.

It was learnt that several Indian refiners have recently bought crude from Oman and West Africa through tenders as term supplies from the Middle East remain constrained.

India’s state-controlled Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) has also acquired about one million barrels of Omani crude through a tender at a premium of about $3 per barrel to Dated Brent from Mitsui & Co Energy Trading Singapore, according to trade sources cited by Reuters earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country’s largest refiner by capacity, has also bought four million barrels of West African crude from Chevron.

The purchase includes Angola’s Nemba, Saxi Batuque and Clov grades, as well as Congo’s Djeno crude. Indian refiners are increasingly looking to crude suppliers as far away as Angola in Africa and Venezuela in South America after term supplies from the Middle East were again disrupted in July and failed to reach India as scheduled.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) is contemplating a phased commissioning of its major gas project later this year, with the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline landing in Abuja.

The NNPC’s Executive Vice President, Gas, Power and New Energy, Olalekan Ogunleye, disclosed this recently at the 2026 Energy Business Development Forum on the AKK Gas Pipeline Project held at the Government House, Minna, Niger State.

According to a post on its social media handles, the NNPC Ltd quoted Ogunleye as saying that the pipeline had reached Abuja and would be commissioned in phases later in the year, while the Niger State section was expected to be completed before the end of 2026.

“The pipeline has reached Abuja and will be commissioned in phases later in the year, with the Niger State section due for completion before year-end,” Ogunleye said.

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The development marks a major milestone in the construction of the project, which is expected to support domestic gas utilisation and boost investment in gas-based industries along its corridor.

The AKK Gas Pipeline is a 40-inch, 614km linear pipeline system running from Ajaokuta in Kogi State to Kano, with associated intermediate and terminal gas facilities and other related equipment to transport natural gas to off-takers.

Last year, the NNPC Ltd announced that the pipeline had successfully crossed the River Niger, raising hopes of completing the project by the fourth quarter of 2025.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited, Bayo Ojulari, who announced the milestone in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the 24th Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, said the feat was achieved through effective and innovative contract re-engineering and industry collaboration.

The forum in Minna was organised to showcase the prospects and investment opportunities presented by the AKK project to investors and energy operators.

The event was themed, “Accelerating Domestic Gas Utilisation and Driving the Compressed Natural Gas Revolution along the AKK Corridor.”

Also speaking at the forum, Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, disclosed that the state government had designated an Industrial Development Park within the 1,000-square-kilometre AKK corridor in the state.

He said the park would create opportunities for investments in agro-allied industries, petrochemicals, and fertiliser production.

“The State Government has designated an Industrial Development Park within the 1,000-square-kilometre AKK corridor in the state, opening the route to agro-allied, petrochemical and fertiliser investment opportunities.”