Marketers’ imported 42m litres petrol set to arrive

About 42.3 million litres of imported Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are expected in the country next week, oil marketers stated on Friday, urging local refiners to ramp up production.

Dealers said petrol imports would continue until the production of the commodity in the country was enough to meet domestic demand.

They insisted that the local production of refined products from modular refineries and the multi-billion dollar Dangote Petroleum Refinery was insufficient, stressing that this was why diesel and petrol importation had continued.

On September 3, 2024, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority disclosed that the Dangote refinery would supply 25 million litres of petrol to the Nigerian market daily starting from September.

It added that this would rise to 30 million litres from September. In a short statement, the NMDPRA said it met with NNPC to agree on local crude supply to the refinery.

“At the NMDPRA headquarters in Abuja, NNPC reached an agreement to commence crude oil sales and supply the Dangote refinery with local currency.

“The refinery is now poised to supply an initial 25 million litres of PMS into the domestic market this September and will subsequently increase this amount to 30 million litres daily from October 2024,” the NMDPRA stated on its X page at the time.

But oil marketers stated on Friday that the $25bn Lekki-based refinery was not producing up to that volume, which was why dealers had to import petrol to augment local production.

“Some of our consignments of PMS imports came into the country last week, and we expect the remaining ones to arrive by next week. About 32,000 metric tonnes of PMS will be arriving next week,” a major marketer who spoke in confidence due to lack of authorisation to speak on the subject, stated.

About 1322.76 litres of petrol weighs one metric tonne. This implies that the 32,000 metric tonnes being expected next week would mean 42.3m litres of imported petrol by the dealers.

It was gathered that two major marketers were jointly importing this volume of PMS, as other dealers had earlier brought in products into the country.

“The consignments are jointly owned and are being imported into the country by major marketers. This does not mean that we will not buy from the Dangote refinery. But the fact is that since the market has been deregulated, everyone is now competing.

“So, it is up to you to decide on where to get the product that will enable you to compete effectively. Nobody is disputing that. So, the importation of PMS and other products is not against the fair business practice,” the marketer stated.

On Monday, it was reported that no fewer than four vessels carrying petrol arrived at seaports along the nation’s borders between Friday, October 18, and Sunday, October 20, 2024.

The report cited a document obtained from the Nigerian Port Authority, revealing that about 123.4 million litres of PMS were berthed at two seaports to improve fuel supply nationwide.

The development confirmed an exclusive report by The PUNCH, which disclosed that oil dealers intended to import the commodity to supplement the supply from the $20bn Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

The dealers had stated that the supply from the Lekki-based plant was currently insufficient to meet domestic demand.

Also speaking on the issue on Friday, another dealer stated that a lot of marketers were gearing up to bring in more products, adding that some others who could not import refined products were already buying from the Dangote refinery.

“The market is free now. It is a deregulated market, so everybody can source their products from wherever is best for them. Also, our local refineries are not producing enough to meet domestic demand.

“That is why I laughed when it was revealed that an indeginous refiner went to court to sue marketers to stop importing products. That can’t work in a deregulated market. Everyone who can import now is currently doing so. Even NNPC is importing.

“The last consignment we got was from the imported PMS of NNPC, which we took about six days ago and which we finished selling before our own came in. Oil and refined petroleum products are the life-wire of the economy. If anything happens to them, every sector of the economy will be affected,” the marketer stated.

The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, earlier confirmed that though IPMAN members had yet to start importing PMS, the market had been liberalised and anyone with the capacity to import was free to do so.