Major Marketers to import 141million litres of petrol

Three major oil marketers in the country are expecting vessels of imported petrol this week despite the availability of petroleum from the local Dangote refinery.

According to Punch, the dealers said about 141 million litres of PMS are being conveyed to Nigeria by vessels following the full deregulation of the downstream oil sector by the Federal Government.

The marketers said that the recent hike in the pump prices of petrol produced by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, on Monday, September 16, has allowed room for PMS imports.

The move comes as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority declared that all imported PMS would be subjected to at least three major tests by the agency before being allowed for sale across the country.

Recall that on Monday, the NNPC announced that it would sell the petrol refined at the Dangote refinery at a price above N1,000/litre in the north. The lowest price, according to the NNPC, is N950 in Lagos and its environs.

A major marketer confirmed to the publication that the deregulation of the sector had fully started as he and his colleagues are expecting their products (PMS) this week.

The marketer reportedly stated that each vessel would bring in about 35,000 metric tonnes of PMS. 

“Most marketers often import three parcels for this kind of transaction and the lowest parcel is about 35,000 metric tonnes of PMS. Now, because of how the business is run, you see marketers bringing in between two and three parcels. The marketer told the publication.

“This week, we expect about three marketers to bring in products. However, some of these imports are not cast in stone, in the sense that the influence of many regulatory authorities is still there. So it is not that you will just go and bring in products and you then start to sell them.

“The regulators, such as the NMDPRA, have to look at the quality, flash points and so many other things that should be taken into consideration before the product comes in. And when it lands, they will take samples and check them in their labs,” the marketer stated.

Asked if the three parcels of each of the marketers would land this week, the dealer replied;

 “All of them are not going to bring in the three parcels at the same time. They bring in a parcel first and later, say in one week's time or so, another parcel comes in. All these imports have storage implications.

“It is not something you do in a day. You can’t bring in one vessel today (Tuesday) and you bring in another one on Saturday. No, it is not done like that. This is not the importation of 20,000 or 30,000 litres of PMS.”