Due to the Dangote Refinery’s incapacity to provide the nation’s substantial fuel needs, petroleum marketers have started importing petrol again.
AFRIPOST gathered that between Friday, Oct. 18, and Sunday, Oct. 20, four ships loaded 123.4 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) into Nigerian seaports.
The Dangote Refinery, which produces 650,000 barrels per day, failed to fulfil its projected production target, raising fears about fuel scarcity.
The refinery was only generating 10 million litres of fuel per day, significantly less than the 25 million litres that were first promised, according to information previously revealed by oil traders.
Imports of PMS are known to have been made possible by the federal government’s complete deregulation of the downstream oil industry. About 141 million litres of PMS were imported in September by dealers who took advantage of the fair market pricing.
The Nigerian Port Authority provided a document stating that the four ships docked at the Calabar port in Cross River State and the Apapa port in Lagos.
Results from the Punch Newspaper showed that 35,000 metric tonnes of PMS, 37,000 metric tonnes of fuel, 10,000 metric tonnes of fuel, and 10,000 metric tonnes of fuel arrived at Apapa port on Friday, October 18, and Calabar port on Sunday, October 20.
With a conversion rate of 1,341 litres to one metric tonne, the total amount of fuel imported is around 123.4 million litres.