As prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) continue to rise, consumers will spend a minimum of N6.1 trillion within the next five months on 6.81 billion litres expected to be produced from local refineries in the country.
The amount is 81.4 per cent of the N7.50 trillion, being the total money spent on fuel importation in 2023 because of the current weak naira being traded against dollar at N1,740/ $1. Price of petrol rose by 81.2 per cent from N200 per litre in May 2023 to over N1,060 per litre in November 2024.
It was gathered that from November 2024 the country is expected to produce 1.08 billion litres of petrol locally; December, 1.45 billion; January 2025, 1.47 billion litres; February, 1.34 billion litres and March and 1.47 billion litres as price of imported petrol is N978 or N18 lower than the Dangote’s N990 per litres.
According to a legal practitioner at Attorney Circle, Barr. Ebenezer Oladimeji, since no subsidy is paid on locally produced PMS, pump price should be N478.01 per litres. He explained: “If N500 is paid on a litre by the government as subsidy in the past, current PMS pump price produced in the country should have come down from N978.01 per liter to N478.01 per litre.”
Based on the monthly projection, it was learnt that this would reduce spending on petrol import to 4.35 billion litres valued at $5.6 billion from next year by 2025. Before now, the country imported 470,000 barrels or 75.68 million litres daily, leading to huge pressure on naira.
However, in October 2024, findings revealed that only 290,567 barrels or 46.20 million litres (1.38 billion litres monthly) of the fuel was imported from Antwerp in Belgium to Lagos Port, leading to 38.2 per cent reduction as Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCLtd) commenced the supply of about 385,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Dangote Refinery.
In January this year, no fewer than 23 vessels were hired by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in January 2024 to ferry 1.11 million tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
The fuel, imported into the country by the contracted ships, was valued at about $1.02 billion. Also, data by the company also revealed that quotes for the shipments of the fuel ranged between $730/ per tonne and $845/ tonne.
Similarly in February, data obtained from NNPCL portal revealed that 936, 320 tonnes of the fuel worth N1. 43 trillion ($891 million) were shipped to the country in February, 2024. Also, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)’s shipping data indicated that the port jetties took delivery 826, 283 tonnes (N566 billion) in March 2024.
Following the high prices of locally refined petrol ranging between N1,015 and N1,028 per literoil marker in the country have said that they preferred to import the fuel to the country as data from the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) has said that the landing cost for imported PMS as of October 31, 2024 was N978.01 per litre as government no longer pay subsidy of N500 on a litre.
According to the Publicity Secretary of the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Dr. Joseph Obele, the association is preparing to sell imported fuel at approximately N800 per liter, once regulatory approvals ware in place.
He noted PETROAN has secured partnerships with international suppliers and awaits only final import authorisations to initiate these imports.
Obele stressed that imported fuel would not only be significantly cheaper than Dangote’s PMS but would undercut prices from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).
He said: “We are calling on the regulatory agency to release our authority to import in no distant time so our first stock will come in.” Recall that in December 2023, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, further explained that the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operations within the next two weeks.
Kyari, who appeared before Senate Ad-hoc committee investigating the various Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) projects of the country’s refineries, said that the mechanical works had been completed on the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries, adding that the Kaduna refinery would commence operations in December 2023.
He said: “We now have crude oil already stocked in the refinery. We are doing regulatory compliance test that must happen in every refinery before you start it, and I assure you that this Port Harcourt refinery will start in the next two weeks.
“Completing the mechanical work means that you are done with the rehabilitation work, now you have to test to see how it works. Of course, we have also completed the mechanical work on the Warri refinery.
It is also undergoing regulatory compliance; processes that we are doing with our regulator, and this will soon be completed and it will be ready.”
