"We are the only company importing premium motor spirit (PMS) into the country," an official said.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) said Monday it is the sole importer of petrol in the country.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, disclosed this during the ongoing Energy Labour Summit organized by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Abuja.
"We are the only company importing premium motor spirit (PMS) into the country.
"None of them (oil companies) can do it today. For them, access to foreign exchange is difficult. We create foreign exchange (FX), therefore we have access to FX, while their access to FX is limited," Mr Kyari said.
NNPCL has since 2016 been the sole importer of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in Nigeria.
But in June, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) had said petroleum marketers would start the importation of petroleum products into the country.
"The importing market is already open. We have to follow the regulations so we roll out very user-friendly policies. Some of them (marketers) have already started putting their applications in place because we don't want to create a gap," Mr Ahmed said at the time.
"We are processing licenses. Already, three oil marketers will from July this year start importing petroleum products into the country. So these are some of the very interesting things that we have received."
He explained that NNPCL had agreed to reduce its petrol import volume to give room for other players in the industry and any marketer licensed to import petroleum products must comply with set guidelines.
"Then at the same time, we'll look at the flexibility and ease of doing business for it, to enable them to import with ease," he added.
Mr Ahmed said at the time that NNPCL is going to be drawing down on its importation from being the sole importer to bringing in about 30 - 40 per cent maximum in line with the provision of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) regulation which says that nobody should exceed 40 per cent of the market share.
"We also deliberated on some concerns in terms of the provision of foreign exchange for them to import," he said.
On 15 June, the NNPCL announced it is no longer the sole supplier of petroleum products in the country.
The development came months after the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said it is fast-tracking the process of issuing oil marketers licenses to import petroleum products in its bid to break the monopoly of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
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On 19 July, Emadeb Energy Services Limited imported the first batch of petrol of about 27 million litres into the country.
According to the company, the 27 million litres of petrol came into the country in a cargo valued at over $17 million with huge foreign exchange components.
Speaking in Lagos at the inaugural importation of petrol into the country by Emadeb Energy, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, Adebowale Olujimi, said his company was able to achieve the feat to prove its capacity and readiness to actively play its part in ensuring steady product supply in the country.
He noted that despite the removal of petroleum subsidy, local refining remained the best option for the country to guarantee energy security, considering the huge foreign exchange implication of the imported products.
"The value of this cargo here, you cannot find it in the market just like that. It is over $17 million, and you can't, in any way, with what the FX is today. Today, we have imported 27 million litres of PMS, but local refining is the way forward for us in this country.
"We want to be one of the earlycomers into this game. In conjunction with some of our trading partners, we decided to source for the licences and that is what has brought us here today," Arise TV quoted Mr Olujimi as saying.
Speaking on Monday, Mr Kyari said the situation had changed as licensed private oil companies are unable to obtain foreign exchange for importation.
