Nigeria fuel demand rises as Dangote drives near-full refining capacity

By Camillus Eboh

May 13 (Reuters) - Nigeria's petrol consumption rose in April, while domestic refining surged to near full capacity, led by strong output from the Dangote refinery, data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) showed on Wednesday.

• Average daily petrol consumption rose to 51.1 million litres, slightly above the 50 million litres benchmark levels, while diesel demand climbed to 17.3 million litres a day.

• Refining utilisation averaged 99.1% in April, with Dangote operating at full capacity for most of the month.

• Product output averaged 53.6 million litres of petrol, 23.6 million litres of diesel and 22.9 million litres of aviation fuel a day, with some volumes exported.

• Fuel stock cover was uneven, with petrol at 18 days, compared with 39 days for diesel and 70 days for aviation fuel.

• Retail petrol prices averaged 1,271 naira/litre ($0.9287/litre) in coastal Lagos and 1,371 naira in northern Maiduguri, tracking Brent crude at $120.55 a barrel.

• All four state-owned NNPC Ltd refineries, with combined capacity of 445k/d, remain shut.

($1 = 1,368.5900 naira)