NNPC Limited and oil marketers imported 1.5 million metric tonnes (mts) of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or two billion litres in 42 days, documents on fuel importations have indicated.
The fuel imports which took place between October 1 and November 11, 2024, also saw 414,018.764 metric tonnes of diesel, and 13,500 metric tonnes of jet fuel imported over the period.
Using a conversion rate of 1,164 litres per metric tonne for diesel, approximately 500 million litres of diesel were imported with 17 million litres of jet fuel also brought in, using the conversion rate of 1,250 litres per metric tonne for jet fuel.
The continued importation of refined petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel has raised controversy in the industry.
The President/CEO of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, had last month informed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that his refinery currently holds more than 500 million litres of fuel in reserve, after supplying 400 million litres to the domestic market. Dangote also highlighted the potential for collaboration with other refineries managed by NNPC to meet an estimated 32 million litres of local petrol needs.
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The oil marketers appear not to have taken the statement seriously as they continue the importation of petroleum products.
But NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, on Monday insisted that the national oil company has ended the importation of petroleum products into the country.
Kyari spoke during the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists in Lagos.
“Today, NNPC does not import any product; we are taking only from domestic refineries”, he disclosed.
Despite this, the documents revealed that fuel importation continued unabated across major ports in the country. They indicated that tanker vessels carrying refined products have been arriving at ports in Lagos, Warri, Calabar, and Port Harcourt nearly every day.
Between October 1 and November 11, almost 1.5 million metric tonnes of PMS, 414,018.764 metric tonnes of diesel, and 13,500 metric tonnes of jet fuel were imported into Nigeria. In October, they imported a total of 994,446.438 metric tonnes of PMS, with Lagos receiving 555,121.617 metric tonnes, Warri 281,100 metric tonnes, Port Harcourt 94,224.821 metric tonnes, and Calabar 64,000 metric tonnes.
Also a total of 285,518.764 metric tonnes of diesel was also imported, with Lagos receiving 162,500 metric tonnes, Warri 58,500 metric tonnes, Port Harcourt 56,018.764 metric tonnes, and Calabar 8,500 metric tonnes.
Similarly, between November 1 and November 11, a further 358,083 metric tonnes of PMS, 112,500 metric tonnes of diesel, and 13,500 metric tonnes of aviation fuel were discharged at Nigerian ports. The products were received by NNPC and 23 oil marketers, including Matrix, A.A Rano, Bovas, Eternal Oil, Deep Water, Ibeto, Chisco, T-Time, Dozy, North-West, Shorelink, AYM Shafa, Rainoil, Prudent, Fatgbems, and others.
The documents showed that on October 10, NNPC received 60,590.187 metric tonnes of PMS via the Navig8 Honor ship at Pinnacle Terminal. On October 16, another 38,083 metric tonnes of PMS were delivered by the CL Agatha Christie ship. On October 18, four ships — Largo Sea, Binta Saleh, CL Game Ousten, and Berners — delivered a combined 97,000 metric tonnes of PMS. Additionally, AA Rano imported 18,860 metric tonnes of PMS and 20,000 metric tonnes of AGO via ships Binta Saleh and LAUSU at its own terminal.
Other notable receivers included Matrix, Bovas, T-Tank, Emadeb, Raj, Menj, and TS Logistics.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has also granted licenses for the importation of additional 2.5 million metric tonnes (3.352 billion litres of PMS between now and December.
Speaking to Vanguard on the issue, the Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike said while independent marketers were not involved yet in petrol importation, it should not surprise anyone as the sector is now fully deregulated.
“Deregulation means marketers can source their products locally or abroad depending on the cost and commercial terms. If you can buy from local refineries at cost and commercial terms more favourable than bringing the products from foreign refineries, why would you want to import? he queried.
However, contrary to IPMAN’s position, the Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) has urged the Federal Government to exercise caution when granting import licences to petroleum traders for refined products, warning that some international traders are attempting to use Nigeria as a dumping ground for low-quality products rejected in Europe.
The Publicity Secretary of CORAN, Eche Idoko, stated, “International traders are using local traders as instruments in their trade war because they are interested in the Nigerian market but do not want to invest in it.
“The continuous issuance of import licences will only harm our industry. The government must protect the nascent refining industry that is emerging in Nigeria, and they can do this by refraining from issuing import licences to these conglomerates, who are only interested in making Nigeria a market for their substandard products.”
Idoko further pointed out that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) stipulates that import licences should not be granted for products that can be refined domestically, stating, “PIA clearly states that for any product for which we have domestic refining capacity, they should stop issuing licences.”