By Adedapo Adesanya
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said over 18 billion litres of the 19.2 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) commonly called petrol imported into the country last year was eventually supplied.
This was disclosed in the PMS report signed by the Executive Secretary of the agency, Mr Abdulkadir Saidu, released on Wednesday.
The report stated that the total quantity of PMS supplied across the nation as at November 2019 was 18,623,992,092 litres and that the PMS average sufficiency stood at 40.68 days, It was further revealed that 1,612 vessels loaded with different petroleum products docked in Nigerian shores in 2019.
Taking a look at the marketers’ performance, the report stated that, “Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was responsible for 99.61 percent of the total 19,175,737,226 litres of petrol that was imported.
“Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN), on the other hand, imported 0.39 percent in 2019., while 166,332,185 litres of PMS were produced locally, in the same year.”
“Other petroleum products imported into the Country are 4,586,878,439 litres of AGO, 128,110,313 litres of HHK, 951,769 084 litres of ATK, 306,791,987 litres of Base Oil, 125,561,557 litres of Bitumen and 45,980,957 litres of LFPO,” it said.
Making his remarks, the Executive Security, Mr Abdulkadir Saidu, emphasised the need for enhanced private participation in the refining business, as well as the revamping of the nation’s refineries for improved production.
He said the accurate accounting, computing, and reporting of imported products was efficiently carried out at sea ports by industry recognised cargo inspectors in conjunction with the PPPRA field staff at sea ports.
He commended the efforts made by marketers at sustaining the continuous development of the sector, despite the inherent global economic challenges.
“This is evident in the number of new facilities that emerged in the downstream subsector of the petroleum industry in 2019,” he said
The PPPRA boss noted that the agency would continue to ensure transparency in the Oil and Gas value chain and said that there would be a better room for partnership this year.
“The agency will also continue to collaborate with the NNPC and other Oil Marketing Companies towards improving the regulatory environment as well as ensuring uninterrupted products availability” he added.
