The demand for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) has decreased by almost 35%, according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer of the NMDPRA, claims that the daily PMS truck out has decreased drastically from 66 million liters per day in May to roughly 47 million liters per day.
The Authority encouraged all marketing companies interested in importing PMS to obtain licenses to import petroleum products after President Ahmed Tinubu announced the removal of subsidies on May 29 of this year. According to Ahmed, 56 oil marketing companies have so far obtained licenses to import PMS, but only 10 of the 56 have demonstrated commitment.
“Out of those 10, three of them have already landed cargoes and they are Prudent Energy, AY Ashafa and Emadeb, but 11plc and others are also indicating interest to import in August and September.
“So, this is just to encourage them to import so that they can compete with NNPC in the market because the market is open for all to compete and we want to encourage all the marketing companies to come in and continue their normal businesses in this sector,” he stated.
He pointed out that as it is a free and open market, the new development will allow end customers to select where to acquire their petroleum products.
“They have a choice where they go to because if NNPC being the sole importer continues to import then that would mean they have an advantage, but we don’t want any dominant player in the market. So, we thought it will be nice to give them words of encouragement and ask them if there is any area that they need support from the regulator or the government so that we can encourage them to participate in importation”, he added.
In order to safeguard customers’ interests against unjustified advances from oil marketers, he declared that the Authority will expand its collaboration with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC) and monitor industry regulation moving forward.
“But most importantly, is the quality of products coming in so that it does not affect motorists or individuals in terms of damage to equipment, we have upgraded our HSE directorate so we can have very good laboratories where we do all these things in collaboration with other stakeholders by using in use their labs to test for quality. So our focus is to liberate the market which has been liberated and we want the market to remain fluid,” he concluded.
