The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says crude oil producers offered 182 million barrels to domestic refiners between January and August 2026, but only 112 million barrels were transacted.
Oritsemuyiwa Eyesan, NUPRC chief executive officer, disclosed this at the 3rd Nigeria Oil Refining Summit in Lagos on Monday.
Eyesan, represented by Boma Atiyegoba, deputy director at NUPRC, said producers offered 182 million barrels against domestic refiners’ declared requirement of 154.6 million barrels during the period.
She said the volume offered represented 118 percent of the refiners’ declared requirement.
However, only 112 million barrels of the crude offered had been transacted, according to the NUPRC chief.
“This gap is not a failure on either side. It is a shared commercial challenge,” she said.
Eyesan identified pricing, payment security, crude grade and delivery timing as some of the factors contributing to incomplete transactions.
According to her, producers are concerned about payment security, the reliability of offtake and existing export commitments, while refiners are focused on crude availability, delivery schedules and pricing.
“The commission is listening, and we are active,” she said.
Eyesan said the NUPRC would improve visibility into refinery demand and producer availability while strengthening monitoring and compliance.
She added that the commission would increase engagement with stakeholders and enforce domestic supply obligations where necessary.
The NUPRC chief also disclosed that the commission had concluded stakeholder consultations on a proposed domestic crude swap arrangement.
“Under the arrangement, producers close to export terminals could swap their domestic supply obligations with producers whose crude was closer to local refineries,” Eyesan said.
She said the proposed arrangement would help reduce logistics costs and delivery times while improving crude availability and compliance.
Eyesan said the NUPRC was also accelerating field development and working to restore shut-in wells and marginal assets.
She stressed that increased production would be necessary as domestic refineries expand and their crude requirements rise.
Also speaking at the summit, Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), said crude oil producers and domestic refiners should not be treated as opposing sides within Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
He said upstream investors require commercially viable returns to justify investments in exploration, development, production and infrastructure, while domestic refineries need reliable crude supplies at commercially sustainable prices to maintain continuous operations.
“Nigeria cannot achieve sustainable refining by treating upstream producers and domestic refiners as opposing sides of the same transaction,” Lokpobiri said.
“They are participants in one petroleum value chain.”
The minister said the government’s responsibility is to establish conditions that allow both segments of the industry to operate sustainably.
Lokpobiri added that the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) remains fundamental to domestic crude transactions.