Nigeria has continued to depend on imported Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), as the three Federal Government-owned refineries being managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited remain moribund.
NNPC and other marketers imported no less than 1.5 billion litres of petrol in November alone, according to data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, as oil marketers said the high import volume was due to the Dangote refinery being the only producer of PMS in Nigeria.
They decried the continued dormancy of NNPC refineries, stressing that it has further given credence to the massive imports of refined products nationwide.
As the Dangote refinery remains the only petrol-producing plant in Nigeria at the moment, the NMDPRA said it issued licences to the NNPC and other traders to bring in up to 52 million litres of petrol per day in November.