Petrol importation reduced by 50% since subsidy removal, says FG

The federal government says petrol importation into the country has dropped by 50 percent since the removal of the subsidy.

Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, spoke at the third edition of the ministerial press briefing series in Abuja on Wednesday.

“Petrol importation has been reduced by 50 percent since the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy,” the minister said.

Idris attributed the progress made to the removal of petrol subsidy by the federal government led by President Bola Tinubu.

“I am also happy to report that there is the NBS, there is a capital importation that has risen to about 66 percent in this quarter as against the 36 percent that happened in the last quarter before the withdrawal of the petrol subsidy.”

Additionally, the minister said local oil production has risen from 1.22 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023 to about 1.55 million in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023.

“We also know that our domestic refining capacity, according to the NBS, has also risen by about 8 percent,” he said.

On May 29, 2023, Tinubu announced the removal of the subsidy on petrol, consequently increasing the price of the product exponentially across the country.

Speaking on Tuesday at the the 7th Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES) in Abuja, Tinubu had said the subsidy removal policy was a challenging but necessary decision to secure the country’s energy future.

He said the payment of petrol subsidy strained the country’s resources over the years and hindered investments in critical infrastructure.