The figures were laid out in early October by Petroleum Minister Hamadou Tinni before the Consultative Council for Refoundation. Between January and August 2026, Niger fell short by 196.62 million litres of premium petrol and 52.60 million litres of diesel, close to 249 million litres in total. The finding is all the more striking given that the country pumps its own oil.
Petrol is where most of the strain lies. Its deficit stood at no more than 47.25 million litres in 2024. It then climbed to 159.74 million the following year, and by the end of August 2026 it had already overtaken that level, with four months still left to run. Diesel tipped over more recently but just as worryingly: the 9.44 million litre surplus posted in 2025 has turned into a shortfall. And diesel is what keeps lorries, mining sites and the national electricity company’s generators running.
So how does an oil-producing country end up here? Much of the answer lies with the Zinder refinery, the only one in operation, which cannot keep up with domestic demand. Its output is heavily weighted towards diesel, at 55% of production, while petrol accounts for just 26%. The minister pointed to other pressures too: a recovering economy, foreign vehicles crossing in to refuel, products slipping towards border areas, and most likely fraudulent outflows. The drying up of smuggled fuel from Nigeria has made the shock worse, since in some areas it supplied as much as half the market.
For a long time the shortage was confined to Maradi, Zinder and Agadez, but it has now reached Niamey. Last weekend, queues lengthened outside the capital’s petrol stations, and a list of supplied outlets published by the Ministry of Trade set off an immediate rush. Some station managers said they had received nothing for four days. Fatimata Marafa Salifou, the newly appointed head of state fuel distributor Sonidep, herself acknowledged that Nigeriens cannot understand why they are going without when their country has oil.
The military authorities have chosen to protect household purchasing power. General Abdourahamane Tiani ordered that petrol stay at 499 CFA francs a litre and diesel at 618 CFA francs, prices unchanged since July 2024. The petroleum minister had argued for an increase, worried about Sonidep’s deepening financial hole, and the company’s director general was dismissed in early October. On October 12, Niamey banned exports of petrol and diesel and set up a technical committee tasked with securing supplies and raising output at the SORAZ refinery.
The question now is how long this standstill can hold. No date has been given for a return to normal, and every week of scarcity pushes up transport costs and market prices, even without an official rise at the pump. For a government that loudly asserts sovereignty over its natural resources, the fuel crisis is shaping up as a test of credibility.