Belgium has emerged as Nigeria’s leading source of petrol imports in 2023 and 2024, despite lingering concerns from the 2022 contaminated-fuel incident that originated from the Port of Antwerp, highlighting Nigeria’s continued reliance on European supply hubs amid volatilities in achieving domestic refining stability.
Trade statistics for international business development by the International Trade Centre (ITC)’s TradeMap shows that Belgium topped the list of countries supplying fuels to Nigeria in 2023 and 2024, surpassing traditional suppliers such as India and the Netherlands.
Data gleaned reveal that Nigeria imported petrol worth $5.38 billion from Belgium in 2023. Even though the value dropped to $4.61 billion in 2024, Brussels still remained the biggest exporter of the product to Nigeria, followed by India, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The country maintained its dominant position through the first quarter (Q1) of 2025, ranking as Nigeria’s third-highest trading partner on the petrol import side ($231 million), just behind India ($576 million) and the Netherlands ($453 million).
Read also: Nigeria’s petrol shipments surge after suspending import duty
The 2022 contaminated fuel scandal
In February 2022, Nigeria was hit by a widespread fuel-quality crisis after several cargoes imported through Antwerp were found to contain high levels of methanol, a substance not previously included in Nigeria’s routine import testing protocols.
The consignments imported by suppliers under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited’s direct-sale, direct-purchase (DSDP) arrangement triggered nationwide queues, damaged vehicle engines, and forced emergency withdrawals of millions of litres of petrol from retail stations.
“The 2022 contamination was due to high levels of methanol. This was under the DSDP era. MRS, NNPC and MRS cargoes were flagged,” said Jide Pratt, country manager, TradeGrid.
Pratt, who also serves as chief operating officer (COO) of Aiona, said that Antwerp and Rotterdam are major distillates freight hubs for import into West Africa, “especially when you consider freight time and draft restrictions.”
He added. “This is why it plays a major part of our import dynamics, besides Lome which is often used to tranship.”
He said: “In terms of exposure, the Mediterranean and Middle East are also hubs for shipping but the preference, ultimately, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) must be up and doing on quality and specs imported.”
Investigations reported by BusinessDay at the time revealed a complex interplay of supply-chain failures, weak quality-assurance processes, and incentives for profiteering.
The scandal reignited longstanding criticisms of NNPC’s role as Nigeria’s sole importer of petrol, a system experts argued fostered opacity, reduced competition, and created conditions for regulatory gaps.
According to Mele Kyari, ex-NNPC CEO, on January 20, 2022, the corporation received a report from its quality inspector on the presence of emulsion particles in petrol cargoes shipped to Nigeria from Antwerp-Belgium.
Kyari said NNPC investigation revealed the presence of methanol in four petrol cargoes imported through the Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) suppliers, including the consortium MRS, Emadeb Consortium, Oando Consortium, and Duke Oil.
He said the cargoes’ quality certificates issued at load port (Antwerp-Belgium) by AmSpec Belgium indicated that the petrol complied with Nigerian specification and that “the NNPC quality inspectors including GMO, SGS, GeoChem, and G&G conducted tests before discharge, which showed that the gasoline met Nigerian specification.’’
Read also: Nigeria’s Oil GDP grows by 5.84% on higher production
As a standard practice for all petrol imports to Nigeria, the said cargoes were equally certified by an inspection agent appointed by the NMDRA, he noted.
“It is important to note that the usual quality inspection protocol employed in both the load port in Belgium and our discharge ports in Nigeria do not include the test for percent methanol content and therefore the additive was not detected by our quality inspectors,’’ he said.
Belgium bans dirty fuel exports to Nigeria, West Africa
In 2024, Belgium approved new quality controls targeted at suspending the export of cheap, low-quality motor fuels from its ports to West Africa, the government confirmed, in a move that could shift trade flows to alternative supply hubs.
Zakia Khattabi, Belgium’s minister of Environment, announced the country banned the exports of toxic fuels that are domestically prohibited but continue to be shipped to West African nations, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon.
This came following the Royal assent of a new legislation that sought to tighten the quality of exported fuels.
The ban targets oil companies that export motor fuels, primarily from the port of Antwerp, with excessively high sulfur or benzene content that have long been banned in Europe due to their harmful effects.
In a statement on May 23, 2024, Khattabi addressed the risk of ‘dirty fuel’ exports, having shifted from the Netherlands to Belgium, underscoring the health risks of high-sulfur products.
“For far too long, toxic fuels have departed from Belgium to destinations, including Africa. They cause extremely poor air quality in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, and are even carcinogenic,” she said.
Meanwhile, low-quality gasoline imports from North-West Europe remain the key source of motor fuel in West Africa without significant domestic production.
Read also: Petrol imports from Malta drop by 60% after Dangote refinery
Why Belgium still dominates Nigeria’s petrol imports
Belgium’s re-emergence as Nigeria’s top supplier reflects the country’s entrenched role in global oil trading logistics.
The Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam (ARA) region remains one of the world’s largest refined-product trading corridors, enabling traders to blend, store, and re-export products rapidly.
Following the Netherlands’ decision in 2022 to tighten rules on the export of high-sulphur and low-grade fuels to Africa, many trading houses shifted activities to Belgium, where regulations were relatively less stringent at the time. This pushed Antwerp into an even stronger supply position for West African markets, particularly Nigeria.
Although Belgium has now introduced its own prohibition on low-quality fuel exports, a policy that took effect in April 2024, the country continues to ship large volumes to Nigeria as traders adapt to new specifications consistent with international fuel standards.
