OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — Nigeria increased the volume of petrol imported into the country in the first three months of the year by 9.24 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.
When compared to the same period in 2019, the NBS data showed that the country imported 5.32 billion litres in Q1 2020, up from 4.87 billion litres in Q1 2019.
A total of 5.61 billion litres were imported in Q2; 5.09 billion litres in Q3, and 5.26 billion litres in Q4 of 2019.
The country’s four refineries are currently unable to refine enough petrol for its over 200 million population, forcing the Africa’s largest oil producer to rely largely on importation for many years now.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has, until recently, been the sole importer of petrol into the country for more than two years, after private oil marketers stopped importing the commodity due to crude price fluctuations, among other issues.
The refineries, located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri, have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day but have continued to operate far below the installed capacity.
Aside from petrol, a total of 1.66 billion litres of automotive gas oil (diesel) in Q1; 258.27 million litres of aviation fuel; 28.33 million litres of low pour fuel oil, and 135.14 million litres of liquefied petroleum gas were imported into the country in Q1.
According to the NBS, 5.36 billion litres of petrol, 1.56 billion litres of diesel, 8.73 million litres of household kerosene, 283.90 million litres of aviation fuel, 23.36 million litres of LPFO and 290.24 million litres of LPG were distributed nationwide during the period under review.