No fewer than four ships carrying imported Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol docked at seaports along the country’s coastal lines
About 123.4 million liters of PMS were berthed at two seaports to enhance the nation’s petrol supply, according to report from the Nigerian Port Authority on Sunday.
The most recent development supports a report that revealed oil marketers want to import the product to augment the $20 billion Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s supplies..
According to report on Friday, October 18, and Sunday, October 20, no fewer than four ships carrying imported Premium Motor Spirit, also known as gasoline, docked at seaports along the country’s borders.
On Sunday at 8:02 a.m., a ship carrying 10,000 metric tons of petroleum landed at the Eco marine terminal at the Calabar port. This indicates that 92,000 metric tonnes were carried in by the four ships..
In contrast to the 25 million liters of PMS, it had previously promised to generate, they said that the plant was only producing roughly 10 million liters per day.
Due to an increase in the pump prices of petrol produced by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, It was reported in September that dealers imported over 141 million liters of PMS.
They claimed that PMS imports were permitted by the fair market pricing that resulted from the government’s complete deregulation of the downstream of oil industry
At 3:37 p.m., 37,000 metric tons of fuel were assigned to Intership. In addition, it anchored at the terminal ASPM jetty.
Another ship with 10,000 metric tons of petroleum berthed at 3:59 p.m. that same day. Peak Shipping was designated as its agent.
On Sunday at 8:02 a.m., a ship carrying 10,000 metric tons of petroleum landed at the Eco marine terminal at the Calabar port. Thus, the four ships that were brought in.
However, our correspondent was unable to verify if any of the ships were owned by the NNPCL or merely oil traders.
On Friday, October 18, at 10.13 a.m., the first shipment of 35,000 metric tonnes of PMS assigned to the West African Port Services docked at the terminal ASPM jetty.
At 3:37 p.m., 37,000 metric tons of fuel were assigned to Intership. Additionally, it anchored at the terminal ASPM jetty. Another ship with 10,000 metric tons of petroleum berthed at 3:59 p.m. that same day. Peak Shipping was designated as its agent.
At the port of Calabar, a ship
Going by the conversion rate of 1,341 litres to one metric tonne, it, therefore, implies that the marketers brought in about 123.4 million litres of petrol.
When contacted in an earlier interview, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, George Ene-Ita, said marketers with approved import licenses were free to import PMS.
He, however, stressed that the products must be subjected to three major tests by the agency.
The products must be subjected to our testing analysis at the ports. The products must conform to stipulated standards before we authorise them to offload to their terminals.
Also, before the smaller vessels bring it further inland to Nigeria, our people will fly to the place to see the product and carry out some tests to ensure the right specification is upheld.
Tests are also done at the products’ origins. And when the products come in before they are released to the market, further tests would be conducted to ensure that they meet the specifications,” he stated.
