Petrol Imports Gulped N1.71tn In 2019 - NBS

 

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), has disclosed that the sum of money spent on petrol importation into the country has dropped by 42% to the record of N1.71tn in 2019.

Similarly,  the sum of N1.71tn recorded in 2019 represents 10.75% of the total money spent on imported goods last year, compared to 2018 when the petrol record was 22.4% of total imports (N13.16tn).

However, the drop in the amount spent last year on petrol importation was due to a decrease in the international benchmark.

According to the Energy Information Agency, 2019, the average price of Brent crude was recorded at $64 per barrel, which is a drop by 7% in the $71 per barrel recorded in 2018.

Nigeria, which is known as Africa’s largest oil producer generates a major part of its revenue from petroleum sales and for some years now, due to fluctuation in price and other related issues, the refineries (Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri) jointly have the capacity to produce 445,000 barrels per day but have repeatedly functioned below the presumed capacity.

Recording petroleum import in the last four quarters, Petrol imports gulped N190.78bn in the first quarter of last year; N572.28bn in Q2; N371.79bn in Q3, and N574.88bn in Q4.

According to the NBS data, the total amount spent on petrol imports rose by 49.75% at N2.95tn in 2018 from N1.97tn in 2017, and Petrol imports gulped N1.63tn in 2016, representing 18.4% of total imports.

NBS in the latest data has shown that the country imported a total of 4.87 billion liters of petrol in Q1 2019; 5.61 billion liters in Q2, and 5.09 billion liters in Q3.

In 2019,  NNPC said that petrol was smuggled out of the country into other African countries including Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cote d’Ivoire due to price variation among the west African countries noting that the supplies were made through the ‘Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase’ arrangement introduced in 2016.

With the introduction of the DSDP scheme, selected overseas refiners, trading companies and indigenous companies are allocated crude supplies in exchange for the delivery of an equal value of petrol and other refined products to the NNPC.

Similarly, diesel and kerosene prices have not regulated but the government pays grants to reduce the cost of petrol

The international oil benchmark, Brent crude, is currently on a descending propensity since coronavirus broke out in China, dropping the price to $30 per barrel effect from the weekend. Also as at last week, the landing cost of petrol had dropped from N145 per litre.