Petroleum product imports from offshore processing arrangements (OPA) by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) rose 12 per cent month on month to 852.1 million litres in October from 763.90m litres in September following closure of the nation’s refineries.
Oil marketers had stopped importing petrol because of unpaid billions in subsidy claims, making the NNPC the sole importer of the product.
The NNPC, in its monthly financial and operations report for October 2015, said that while 645.6m litres of premium motor spirit (PMS), that is petrol, was imported, 206.4m litres of dual purpose kerosene (DPK) was shipped in October through the OPA. PMS receipt in the prior month was 567.6m litres, while DPK was 196.2m litres.
The highest imports for the year so far were in March and May when the Corporation imported more than 1 billion litres of petroleum products to quell the scarcity that hit the country before and after the general elections.
Because the government must ensure steady supplies of fuel, the NNPC relies on the OPA as it does not have the cash or credit to buy imported fuel and because the refineries are down. In fact, “Total crude processed by the refineries in October was zero,” the NNPC report said.
Under the OPA, the NNPC allocates 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day to another party who would refine the crude abroad on its behalf and ship the refined products (i.e petrol, kerosene, diesel etc) to the country.
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