Crude oil producers offered Nigerian domestic refineries about 182 million barrels of crude between January and August 2026, but only 112 million barrels were ultimately transacted during the period, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The commission disclosed this at the third Nigeria Oil Refining Summit in Lagos on Monday, where it highlighted the commercial challenges affecting crude supply to local refineries.
NUPRC Chief Executive Officer Oritsemuyiwa Eyesan, who was represented at the event by Deputy Director Boma Atiyegoba, said producers offered significantly more crude than the 154.6 million barrels declared as required by domestic refiners.
The 182 million barrels offered represented about 118 percent of the refiners’ stated requirement.
However, only 112 million barrels progressed to actual transactions, leaving a substantial gap between the crude offered and volumes ultimately agreed and delivered.
“This gap is not a failure on either side. It is a shared commercial challenge,” Eyesan said.
She identified several factors behind the incomplete transactions, including pricing disagreements, payment security, differences in crude grades and delivery schedules.
According to the commission, producers remain concerned about the security and reliability of payments, the certainty of crude offtake and their existing export commitments.
Refiners, on the other hand, are primarily concerned about having sufficient crude available, receiving supplies according to agreed schedules and obtaining the crude at commercially workable prices.
Eyesan said NUPRC was aware of the challenges and was working with stakeholders to improve the process.
“The commission is listening, and we are active,” she said.
The commission plans to improve the information available on refinery crude requirements and producer availability, while also strengthening monitoring and compliance with domestic crude supply obligations.
NUPRC has also completed consultations with industry stakeholders on a proposed domestic crude swap arrangement.
Under the proposed system, producers located closer to export terminals could potentially exchange their domestic supply obligations with producers whose crude is geographically closer to Nigerian refineries.
“Under the arrangement, producers close to export terminals could swap their domestic supply obligations with producers whose crude was closer to local refineries,” Eyesan said.
The commission believes such an arrangement could reduce transportation and logistics costs, shorten delivery times and improve the availability of crude for domestic refining.
Eyesan also said NUPRC was working to increase oil production by accelerating field development and bringing shut-in wells and marginal assets back into production.
She stressed that increasing output would become increasingly important as more domestic refineries expand their operations and require larger volumes of crude.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, also called for closer cooperation between crude producers and domestic refiners.
Lokpobiri said the two segments should not be treated as competing sides of the petroleum industry because both are necessary for the development of Nigeria’s oil value chain.
“Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable refining by treating upstream producers and domestic refiners as opposing sides of the same transaction,” the minister said.
“They are participants in one petroleum value chain.”
He explained that upstream investors need commercially viable returns to justify spending on exploration, development, production and infrastructure, while refineries require dependable crude supplies at sustainable prices to operate consistently.
Lokpobiri said the government’s responsibility was to create an environment where both sides could operate sustainably.
He also maintained that the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle provided under the Petroleum Industry Act remains an important basis for domestic crude transactions.
The figures presented by NUPRC highlight the gap that still exists between crude availability and actual transactions as Nigeria works to increase domestic refining and reduce dependence on imported petroleum products.
