By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has put the current daily consumption of petrol in the country at 74 million litres.
According to the agency, this was what Nigerians consumed as at the week ended April 3, 2022, higher than the 72.07 million litres per day used in December 2021.
In its weekly National PMS Evacuation Report for March 21 to April 3, 2022, the NNPC further said the quantity of fuel, also known as premium motor spirit (PMS), used by the nation in 14 days stood at 1.03 billion litres.
The report stated that Lagos, Kano and Niger States topped the list of high demand states, with 170.4 million litres, 83.6 million litres and 82.3 million litres respectively, while Yobe, Bauch and Jigawa States were the low demand states at 4.2 million, 2.4 million and 1.3 million litres apiece.
It was further disclosed that the percentage of petrol loaded for different destinations across the 36 states and the FCT included 13 high demand states at 69 per cent volume, 12 medium demand states at 25 per cent volume and 12 low demand states at 6 per cent volume.
According to the report, the average retail price of petrol increased to N185.30 per litre in March 2022 in contrast to N172.68 per litre in March 2021, implying a 7.31 per cent increase.
The increase in the daily fuel consumption in the country shows that the amount paid for subsidy by the federal government will rise.
Recently, the National Assembly approved the request of President Muhammadu Buhari to increase the petrol subsidy to N4 trillion as a result of the increase in the prices of crude oil, which was sparked by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Though Nigeria has crude oil in abundance, its inability to refine the commodity has led to the importation of petrol and other derivatives into the country.
The four refineries in the country have failed to work but the nation is waiting for the Dangote Refinery in Lagos to commence operations anytime soon.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka