Nigeria’s daily petrol consumption has been reduced by 35 per cent to 46.38 million litres, since the subsidy was removed, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said.
Mr Ahmed Farouk, Chief Executive, NMDPRA, disclosed this during a stakeholders meeting with oil and gas operators on Monday in Lagos.
He said prior to subsidy removal, Nigeria consumed 65 million litres of petrol per day.
“In January, it was 62 million litres; February, 62 million litres; March, 71.4 million litre; April, 67.7 million litres; May 66.6 million litre; June, 49. 5 million litre”.
Farouk estimated July consumption at 46.3 million litres.
He said that over 56 companies applied for import licences to bring in petrol, while only 10 made commitment to import.
He said three marketers, Emadeb Energy, A.Y Shafa and Prudent Energy had imported petrol into the country.
He said 11 Plc and others have indicated interest to import petrol in August and September.
“The era of subsidy payment is gone, we encourage all marketers who are interested in importing petrol to apply for licence.
“The meeting is to encourage marketers to import, so that there will be availability of petrol at every nook and cranny of the nation.
“The marketers have the choice to fix their price, because it is a free market where there will be competition.
“It is no longer Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) dominating the market, there will be other players to compete with NNPCL.
“We do not want any dominant player in the market, that was why we liberalised the market for everybody to play, ” Farouk emphasised.
Farouk said that the authority was working with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), to checkmate marketers from taking undue advantage of the consumers.
The meeting was attended by managing directors of all downstream sector operators, delegation of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Depots Owners Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), among others.
