Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has said that, for failing to fix its dilapidated 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) refineries, which are located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri, Nigeria is losing about $2000, an equivalent of N1.5 million, per each barrel of oil imported into the country.
The Chairman of MOMAN, Mr. Olumide Adeosun, disclosed this during an interview on Thursday, stating that in 2016, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited established the Direct Sale Direct Purchase(DSDP) programme, which is also known as crude swap.
He noted that under the DSDP programme, NNPC provides crude oil under a Free on Board (FOB) basis to a supplier, while the supplier in return provides petroleum products to NNPC at a designated port in Nigeria and the products supplied are an equivalent of the crude oil received by the supplier.
In his own words, ‘’it is criminal what has happened. If we are to sell a barrel of oil at $71 fully extracting and exploiting the full value locally, that same $71 barrel of oil will give the country $2000 in terms of value.
What we must do is to get those local refineries back on stream. I know there is a lot of work going on in the background. We are praying and hoping that those refineries come onstream so that we can get other sources of fuel and its by-products. We also hope that the Dangote refinery comes on stream soonest for the sake of Nigerians,”.
Adeosun said that other crude oil product derivatives, which included Automative Gas Oil (AGO), Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), and Jet A1, among others were lost as a result of Nigeria’s dependence on imports. He expressed concerns that the inability of the country’s local refineries to function has led to losses of these other product derivatives.
According to him, Nigeria must take steps to ensure that its refineries come on stream in order to stop the continued revenue loss.