Oil Marketers Suspend Fuel Importation

The Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Clement Isong, has disclosed that oil marketers have suspended their interest in the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Isong said the scarcity of foreign exchange in the Investors’ and Exporters’ window of the official market has discouraged oil marketers that applied to import PMS, also known as fuel, into the country.

The MOMAN official said an oil marketer needs between $25 million to $30 million to import petrol into the country but the official market is not liquid enough to meet the demand of oil marketers for foreign exchange.

“The I&E window is illiquid. There’s no money there,” Isong said, adding, “To buy products, it costs you between $25m to $30m. You can’t find it in the I&E window. So it doesn’t work and that is why people are not importing,” he was quoted in a Punch report on Monday.

On how the Federal Government can increase foreign exchange to meet the demands of the oil marketers and other manufacturers seeking forex, Isong stated that the security around crude oil should be improved. 

He advised that should the government stop oil theft, crude oil output will increase, thereby, raising the availability of dollars in the official market. 

“We can’t find dollar again, you can’t find it right now. Nigeria has to sort out the security issues in the Niger Delta so that we can increase our daily crude oil output. 

“If we increase it to 1.8 or two million barrels per day, then there’ll be dollar in the market. So we need to stop oil theft.” Isong explained. 

Prime Business Africa previously reported that the Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, said the oil and gas company discovered 460 illegal connections on its Trans Niger Pipeline. 

Oil thieves use the 460 illegal connections to steal crude from Shell’s Trans Niger Pipeline, which led to the shutdown of the pipeline for a year.

Meanwhile, the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, said one of the oil marketers, Emadeb, that imported fuel into Nigeria is at a crossroads, as the naira depreciated further after the firm imported PMS. 

Due to the increase in the dollar rate, NNPC has been the sole importer, as other oil marketers distance themselves from petrol importation. 

Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited was still the major importer of petrol into Nigeria, though another importer, Emadeb, imported the commodity recently.

“NNPC is still the major importer for now. One other company, Emadeb, imported products recently, but because this product is being sold in naira, getting back their funds is another issue since the naira keeps depreciating, while PMS imports is in dollars.  

“This is why it is often difficult to go back and buy again as an independent importer. That is the problem we are facing,” Ukadike stated.