The Federal Government, yesterday, cut down the importation of premium motor spirit, also called petrol, by 50 per cent for the period April to June 2015. A source in the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, told Platts in Abuja that the agency has issued permits for the importation of 1.5 million metric tonnes, compared to a permit of three million litres it issued for the first quarter of 2015.
The PPPRA source also disclosed that the number of import permits for fuel allocation for the second quarter was reduced to 36, from 42 in previous quarters. The reduction, Platts stated, was due to requests by oil marketers for lower allocations due to rising import costs and a government subsidy dispute, Confirming this development, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, said, “For the second quarter, all major marketers reduced their request for allocation because even they have stagnated on meeting first quarter allocations.”
The PPPRA issued permits for around three million metric tonnes of gasoline in the first quarter, which the agency said at the time was to cover for the nearly absent output from domestic refineries.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, had a couple of days ago, stated that the refining capacity of all the refineries in the country will grow to 90 per cent by April 2016.
