- Dr Maikanti Baru has disclosed that Nigeria is currently the largest importer of petrol in the world, despite being an OPEC member nation
- The NNPC GMD described the development as ‘shameful’ and attributed it to the low performance of the nation’s refineries
- However, he disclosed that the NNPC was working to rectify the situation, in partnership with relevant investors and financiers who would soon be announced
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, has disclosed that Nigeria is the only member country in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that imports petrol, and is currently the largest importer of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the world, Daily Trust reports.
Baru made the disclosure at the 2018 Oloibiri Lecture Series (OLEF), via the NNPC’c chief operating officer, upstream sector, Alhaji Bello Rabiu.
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NAIJ.com gathers that he stated that Nigeria had reached such high levels of import due to the fact that the nation’s refineries were not functioning at maximum capacity.
He stated: “As we speak today, Nigeria is the only OPEC country that imports petrol and we are the largest importer of PMS in the world.
“We actually import one million tonnes of PMS every month into a country that produces oil and gas and has refinery. It is a shameful thing, it doesn’t make sense and that is what we are trying to address.”
According to the NNPC boss, despite the challenges as regards the nation’s refineries, the oil corporation was working to find solutions in partnership with relevant investors.
In his words: “Upgrades of our refineries from the current name plate capacity of 445,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) to at least 1million bpd is the focus. Discussions with relevant investors and financiers are ongoing.
“The expectation is that the refineries will be fully back on stream by December 2019.”
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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that Nigeria spent N2.068 trillion on the importation of petroleum products within a nine-month period, from January to September 2017, rising by 14.32 per cent from N1.809 trillion recorded in the same period in 2016.
Data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS), Foreign Trade Statistics for third quarter 2017, showed that of the total petroleum products imported, N1.541 trillion was spent on the importation of premium motor spirit, also known as petrol.
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Source: Naija.ng
