Nigeria Risks Refining Capacity Crunch Without Oil Production Boost

Nigeria's emerging refining capacity is facing crude supply constraints unless the country urgently increases oil production and strengthens its infrastructure and commercial framework for domestic crude supply, according to Adegbite Falade, Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG).

Falade spoke at the third Nigeria Oil Refining Summit (NORS 2026), where he emphasized that Nigeria's ability to sustain its growing refining capacity depends on the strength and competitiveness of the upstream sector.

Nigeria's domestic refineries could require more than 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day in the medium term, putting significant pressure on the country's current production base, which stood at about 1.68 million barrels per day as of August 2026.