Opeoluwani Akintayo
12 July 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Auditing firm, PricewaterCooper, PwC, has said that Nigeria consumes over 17 billion Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol.
According to one of its publication, Nigeria’s Refining Revolution, out of the over 17 billion litres of PMS consumed annually, transportation and power are the major drivers of demand for the product.
Nigeria currently imports over 90% of PMS used in the country, and according to the auditing firm, the trend is likely to continue in the future.
Nigeria’s imported PMS is primarily sourced from North Western Europe and United States. West Africa consumes over 22 billion litres of PMS annually.
In the area of Automative Gas Oil, AGO, known as diesel, the report also said the Country consumes over 3 billion litres yearly.
It said that the erratic state of the country’s power sector has been the major driver of AGO demand.
The power sector is currently plagued by a plethora of challenges, increasing the demand for self-generation options such as AGO-powered generators.
Nigeria currently imports about 60% of AGO consumed in the country.
West Africa consumes about 11 billion litres of AGO annually, while imports currently account for over 70% of AGO supplied to the region, the report stated.
PwC also said Nigeria consumes over 400 million litres of aviation fuel annually, most of which is primarily sourced from the United States.
In 2014, Nigeria was the second largest importer of US aviation fuel in the world.
The country currently imports account 100 percent of its aviation fuel supplied, due to the inability of existing refineries to produce the fuel, the report said.
There is a current deficiency in supply, which the report said, is likely to continue in the short to medium term.
It blamed continuous imports of aviation fuel primarily on the shortage of foreign exchange and less to do with availability of the product.
West Africa consumes over 1 billion litres of aviation fuel annually with imports currently accounting for over 80% of aviation fuel supplied to the region.
SIR (Ivory Coast) is responsible for a significant portion of locally refined aviation fuel within the region, the report said.