Nigeria restricts fuel import to 39 firms
Friday, June 15th, 2012
14 June 2012, Sweetcrude, ABUJA - NIGERIA’s Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has slashed the number of companies that would be involved in the importation of premium motor spirit or petrol into the country in the third quarter of this year from the 42 that participated in the scheme in the first and second quarters to 39.
The reduction will check shady deals in the nation’s fuel import scheme, the agency said. It has also cut third quarter fuel imports volume by 450,000 metric tonnes.
Sources said only the 39 oil marketers would be issued with permit to import. The agency had in the first quarters of this year issued permits to 42 oil depot and facility owners to import a total of 3.755million metric tonnes of petrol.
But, it cut the volume in the second quarter to 3.575 million metric tonne.The agency has been battling to entrench transparency in the fuel import regime, seen previously as corrupt, especially following recent House of Representatives probe of the fuel import scheme that uncovered sharp practices in the scheme.
