Oil marketers have persisted in importing and distributing fuel around the country, even though two significant refineries in Nigeria have started producing it in the last three months.
According to information obtained by The PUNCH on Wednesday, between September 11 and December 5, 2024, marketers imported 2.3 billion litres of petrol.
The ongoing importation of petrol runs counter to a public declaration made by a group of marketers who had previously declared their intention to stop importing petrol and concentrate on domestic supply.
The two local refineries are the Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State, which can process 210,000 barrels per day, and the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos, which can process 650,000 barrels per day. PHRC’s old plant, which can manufacture 60,000 barrels per day, is still in operation.
While the Port Harcourt refinery’s Area 5 plant commenced operations last Tuesday, the Dangote refinery started selling petrol in September.
Despite this, The PUNCH reported that 52,000 metric tonnes of petrol were imported into the nation in only the last three days.
One metric tonne of petrol weighs around 1322.76 litres. This suggests that in just three days, dealers imported 68.74 million gallons of petroleum.
