- nameplate capacity; reached design capacity in February 2026 (EIA)1
- 650,000 b/d
- of intake is Nigerian crude; 30–40% imported (Reuters, Aug 2026)2
- 60–70%
- US crude exported to Nigeria in 2025 (EIA)1
- ~110,000 b/d
What it buys
The refinery began processing crude in January 2024 and reached its designed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day in February 2026, according to the EIA.1 Kpler reported an intake of 590,000 barrels per day in July 2025, of which about 220,000 were Nigerian grades — Amenam, Bonny Light and Escravos — and 370,000 were US crude.3 By August 2026 Reuters put imported crude at 30–40% of intake.2
Naira-for-crude
Under a Federal Executive Council policy, NNPC began selling crude to the refinery in naira on 1 October 2024. In April 2025 the Ministry of Finance stated that the initiative is a standing policy rather than a time-limited intervention.4 The legal foundation is the Petroleum Industry Act, which permits domestic crude sales to be paid in US dollars or naira by agreement.5
The domestic supply obligation
Separately, regulations made in 2023 allow the upstream regulator to require producers to supply licensed domestic refineries before exporting, and in February 2025 the regulator told producers it would refuse export permits for cargoes designated for domestic refining.67 The detail is in our compliance guide.
Why a Nigerian refinery imports crude
Reuters reported in August 2026 that domestic crude is priced off Brent in dollars and that some Nigerian cargoes cost the refinery more than comparable imports, with WTI Midland at times trading above Bonny Light.2 The refinery therefore buys on economics, as any refiner does.
What this means for export buyers
Domestic refining is absorbing a material share of Nigerian production, and the state-owned refineries at Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna were shut at the time of writing.89 Export availability of popular light sweet grades is tighter than production figures alone suggest — one more reason that offers of unlimited volumes should be treated with caution.
Nigerian export statistics record the declared destination and are published by value; importer statistics record arrivals by volume. The two rarely match exactly. See the notes on the markets overview.
The qualities of the grades named on this page are in the Nigerian crude grade database. How such cargoes are actually contracted — by tender, under term contracts or through an established trader — is explained in how Nigerian crude oil is sold, and what a buyer should prepare before approaching any seller is in the international buyer centre.