The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has declared it is the sole importer of petrol in the country.
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mele Kyari, disclosed this on Monday, during the ongoing Energy Labour Summit organised by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), in Abuja.
Kyari said, We are the only company importing premium motor spirit (PMS) into the country. None of them (oil companies) can do it today. For them, access to foreign exchange is difficult. We create foreign exchange (FX), therefore we have access to FX, while their access to FX is limited.
Recall that NNPCL has since 2016 been the sole importer of PMS in Nigeria. However, in June, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had said petroleum marketers would start the importation of petroleum products into the country.
He explained that NNPCL had agreed to reduce its petrol import volume to give room for other players in the industry and any marketer licensed to import petroleum products must comply with set guidelines.
On 15 June, the NNPCL had announced that it is no longer the sole supplier of petroleum products in the country. The development came months after the NMDPRA said it is fast-tracking the process of issuing oil marketers’ licenses to import petroleum products, in its bid to break the monopoly of the NNPCL, in compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
Speaking on Monday, Kyari said the situation had changed, as licensed private oil companies are unable to obtain foreign exchange for importation.
