The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, says the country’s domestic consumption for petrol has significantly dropped from 66.7 million liters, before the deregulation, to 44.3 million liters per day.

Farouk Ahmed, the Authority Chief Executive of NMDPRA said that the reduction represents about 33.58 per cent daily.

Mr Ahmed disclosed this in his keynote address at the opening session of the Oil Trading and Logistics, OTL, 2023 Africa Week 2023 on Monday in Lagos.

The NMDPRA boss said eight wholesale petroleum product suppliers out of 94 licensed oil marketers were issued permits to import into the country.

According to him, those licensed delivered eight cargoes of petrol totaling 251,000 MT (291,238,670.69 litres) between June and September.

Mr Ahmed said that the drop in the number of licensed importers was due to the challenge of forex illiquidity which had constrained the oil marketing companies’ ability to import the product.

He expressed optimism that the necessary efforts taken by the government to improve the stability of the harmonised forex market would support the importation of petrol by more oil marketing companies alongside the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd,.

Mr Ahmed said: “Supply of petroleum products is expected to be further enhanced and secured by the coming onstream of Dangote Refinery and the rehabilitation of NNPCL refineries in the short to medium term.

“The efforts of the Nigerian government towards ensuring that the overall national energy security of the country is administered in a manner that optimises position within the complex global energy dynamics.

Mr Ahmed said that a critical pillar for pursuing a structured energy transition in Nigeria is the adoption of gas as a transition fuel and the emplacement of strategic gas development frameworks through the Decade of Gas Program (DOGP).

“The DOGP will ensure the accelerated growth of gas processing, storage, transportation, retail, and utilisation in Nigeria within the decade.

“The programme has optimal industry inclusiveness and it’s making steady progress in the implementation of all its strategic objectives, initiatives and projects,” he said.

Mr Ahmed, therefore, noted that the full deregulation of the sector had further enhanced the nation’s capacity to adopt Compressed Natural Gas (CNG ) as a more sustainable and affordable alternative automotive fuel.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has launched the Presidential initiative on CNG (PiCNG), with the focus of providing immediate and long-lasting infrastructure for modern mass transit systems.

He stated that the PiCNG had already commenced work and adequately supported with all necessary tools, including required funding to meet its aspirations.

Over 200 participants were in attendant with over 20 exhibitors

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