Petrol import up by 207% as IPMAN kicks against importation
Nigeria’s import of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) increased to 543m litres in the month of June, a factsheet by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) has stated. The Factsheet said this was a 207 percent increase from the 182.9m litres imported in the month of May. On the other hand, domestic supply by […]
Nigeria’s import of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) increased to 543m litres in the month of June, a factsheet by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Agency (NMDPRA) has stated.
The Factsheet said this was a 207 percent increase from the 182.9m litres imported in the month of May.
On the other hand, domestic supply by the Dangote refinery dropped by 22 per cent from the 1.28bn litres supplied to 975m litres.
It stated that altogether, 1.518bn litres of PMS was supplied into the market during the month but 1.422bn litres were consumed.
This showed that import of fuel has increased despite claim by the NMDPRA that it had stopped license for PMS importation in January.
This is just as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has kicked against the recent approval of import licences for petroleum products, saying the move is worsening price volatility and putting unnecessary pressure on the naira.
Daily Trust reports that the country has recently moved from importing 3m litres per day of PMS to 18.1m litres per day in June.
While the Dangote Refinery had kicked against importation of PMS as it sabotages domestic refining, regulators and independent marketers have argued that the country still needs to import the commodity for energy security.
The fact sheet also said the refinery produced 39.1m litres of PMS per day but supplied 32.5m litres.
It added that the three refineries owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) are still shut down and not producing.
It also showed an increase in imported Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly known as cooking gas.
Total LPG receipts rose from 4.1 kilo tons per day in May to 5.1KT per day in June, representing a 24.4 percent increase.
Domestic LPG receipts, however, fell from 4.0KT per day to 3.6KT per day, a decline of 0.4KT per day, or 10 per cent. Imports rose from 0.1KT per day in May to 1.5KT per day in June. That represented an increase of 1.4KT per day, or 1,400 per cent.
The sharp increase in LPG imports helped push total receipts higher, even as domestic supply declined.
However, LPG consumption fell from 4.5KT per day in May to 4.1KT per day in June, a decline of 0.4KT per day, or 8.9 per cent. The figures indicate that LPG supply exceeded consumption during the month, potentially supporting inventory replenishment.
The supply of Automotive Gas Oil, commonly known as diesel, declined by 14 per cent in June. AGO receipts fell from 18.8 million litres per day in May to 16.2 million litres per day in June, a decline of 2.6 million litres, or 13.8 per cent.
The decline was entirely recorded in domestic receipts, as the country recorded no AGO imports in either May or June.
Meanwhile, the National Publicity Secretary of IPMAN, Chinedu Ukadike, while reacting to the current state of the downstream petroleum sector in Nigeria said independent marketers had studied the situation closely, including price volatility, the import licence regime, and the sale of petroleum products in dollars.
He urged the Federal Government to look into the matter transparently through the NMDPRA, which he described as the authority regulating the industry.
According to him, the recent import licences, which were meant to serve as a check on domestically refined petroleum products, are not achieving the results expected by independent marketers.
He said marketers were shocked that some of the companies granted import licences were pegging their prices at around N1,350 per litre, a figure he said was far higher than what the Dangote Refinery sells to marketers.
Ukadike questioned the rationale behind the licences, noting that if the goal of the NMDPRA and the Federal Government was to checkmate the domestic price of petroleum products, then bringing in imported products of questionable quality and higher prices defeated that purpose.
“What is the essence of issuing this price? This will create a lot of tension in society,” he said, adding that the price volatility was deepening and directly affecting independent marketers, who now do not know which way to turn.