Petrol importation in Nigeria drops by 512 million litres between June and September, this was disclosed in the latest National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Petroleum Product Import and consumption report.
According to the bureau, Nigeria imported 5.09 billion litres of petrol as against the 5.6 billion litres imported in Q2 2019, while Nigeria imported 429.38 million litres of Liquefied Petroleum Gas in Q3 compared to the 354.7 million litres imported in Q2 2019.
The Breakdown:
- Nigeria consumed 4.9 billion litres of petrol in Q3 2019, compared to the 5.18 billion litres consumed in Q2
- The above indicates a decrease of 1.09 billion litres in consumption in 3 months.
- The volume of petrol imported into the country in September stood at 1.46 billion litres, dropping from 1.64 billion litres in August and 1.99 billion litres in July 2019.
- The importation of Petrol reduced by 9.13%, while the importation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) increased by 21%
The recent downward trend in the imports of Petrol could be attributed to the closure of Nigeria’s land borders on August 22 by the Federal Government, in order to check smuggling activities of banned goods into the country.
The state-owned oil firm had reportedly said recently before the land border closure that petrol was being smuggled out of the country to Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire as a result of the price discrepancy between Nigeria and its neighbouring West African countries.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had disclosed earlier that the recent closure of the borders might have contributed to the large reduction in PMS leaving from fuel yards.
“Significant drop in the PMS evacuation from fuel depots noted since August 22nd may be connected to border closure and other interventions of the security agencies aimed at curbing smuggling. We will contain smuggling of the PMS,” Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, NNPC. (Nairametrics)
