The Federal Government has been warned against importing refined petroleum products when local refineries can fill the gap.
Giving the warning, a former General Manager of Corporate Planning and Business Development, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Babajide Soyode, said that importation of such products should not be allowed to disrupt the local refineries.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune in Lagos, Soyede urged that regulator like the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) must ensure that Nigerians get cheaper products and prevent marketers from importing if the local production is sufficient to prevent killing of local refineries.
Also, he urged that local refiners should agree to a fair pricing regime, while marketers must buy from them in ensuring a balanced market.
His advice followed the continous issuance of import licence to marketers by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to bring in product, citing supply shortfall.
Soyede’s position is that Dangote Refinery and other refiners with their specifications can conviniently meet Nigeria’s fuel consumption if given the right offer.
“Importing refined products should never be allowed to disrupt local refineries. For this reason local refiners must agree to a fair pricing regime, while marketers must buy from local refiners in ensuring a balanced market,” he said.
Soyede raised query concerning the specifications of imported PMS, saying this implied a lack of transparency and standards, calling both the NMDPRA and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to enforce the right specifications.
He suggested that any refinery that fails to meet the specifications should be shut down, with NNPC allowed to import temporarily.
Nigeria’s petrol importation surged by 207 per cent in June 2026, even as domestic petrol supply fell by 22 per cent, according to NMDPRA’s data.
The data showed that average daily PMS imports rose from 5.9 million litres in May to 18.1 million litres in June.
The 12.2 million-litre daily increase represented a 206.8 per cent month-on-month rise.
The petroleum expert also expressed concern over the moribund nation’s refineries, urging that these facilities can be reconfigured and upgraded to process heavy crude.
He pointed out that Kaduna refinery can upgraded to increase its capacity from 50,000 barrels to 150,000 or 200,000 barrels, supplying oil to West Africa or the whole of Africa.
According to him, upgrading existing refineries remains the cheapest way to increase capacity in Nigeria. urging that the engineering for the upgrades should be done in Nigeria, adding that much of the fabrication, like pipe, racks, should also be done locally to create jobs
“Reconfiguration involves adding units like Residual Fluid Catalytic Cracking (as in Warri) to crack heavy crude into petrol, which is a process known as process reconfiguration,” he said.
SOURCE: tribuneinlineng.com
