Documents on fuel importation reveal that NNPC Limited and oil marketers brought in 1.5 million metric tonnes (MT) of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), equivalent to 2 billion liters, within 42 days.
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.
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.ing 555,121.617 metric tonnes, Warri 281,100 metric tonnes, Port Harcourt 94,224.821 metric tonnes, and Calabar 64,000 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.
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