The Crude Oil Refineries Association of Nigeria (CORAN) says modular refineries have the capacity to supply more than 10 per cent of Nigeria’s diesel demand but are constrained by inadequate crude supply.
Eche Idoko, CORAN’s Publicity Secretary, said this while reacting to data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which showed that modular refineries contributed only about two per cent of the country’s diesel consumption over a three-month period.
Idoko argued that the figure does not reflect the true production potential of the facilities.
“Our capacity is far above two per cent. With sufficient crude supply, modular refineries can produce up to 10 per cent, or even 15 per cent, of Nigeria’s diesel requirements,” he said, adding that some refineries are currently operating below capacity due to limited feedstock.
He called on the Federal Government to extend the naira-for-crude policy to modular refineries to improve their operations.
According to him, refineries such as OPAC, Aradel, Waltersmith and the Edo Refinery would significantly increase production if they had access to crude under the policy.
Data from NMDPRA show that modular refineries supplied an average of 2.37 per cent of Nigeria’s diesel demand between November 2025 and January 2026.
During the period, only three modular refineries, Waltersmith, Edo Refinery and Aradel, were operational, while OPAC and Duport were shut down.
Their combined output averaged about 393,000 litres of diesel per day, compared with national consumption of roughly 17 million litres daily.
The monthly breakdown showed that modular refineries met about 3.18 per cent of demand in November 2025, 2.39 per cent in December and 1.55 per cent in January 2026.
Despite the contribution of modular plants, larger facilities such as the Dangote refinery and imported supplies continue to dominate Nigeria’s diesel market. The Dangote refinery alone supplied between 5.6 million and 10.9 million litres of diesel per day within the same period.
