Nigeria Needs $1.8bn For Fuel Imports

BEVERLY HILLS, April 13, (THEWILL) – Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) has revealed that Nigeria needs about $1.8 billion per quarter to import fuel.

According to Bello Rabiu, CEO (upstream), NNPC, in a press briefing, at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, he disclosed that corporation plans to saturate the market with more petrol than Nigerians can consume to end the scarcity.

“Spending on imports rely on two things: Volume and the price. As we speak today, a cargo of product of about 40 million litres will cause about $13 to $14 million,” he said.

“And we need about 45 to 50 million litres to satisfy the country, depending on the time and the condition of the country. So, if you assume that about $16 million per day, it can also go up to $20 million depending on the price.

“It means you need $20 million multiplied by 90 days for a quarter. That is $1.8 billion. So, this amount is required to import the country’s fuel requirement for one-quarter. Every month, we need $600 million to import fuel. So, we need $1.8 billion to import the country’s requirement for one-quarter.

“The plan going forward from today, we want to make sure that we give more than what is required in the whole country. The total requirement of the country is just about 1,300 trucks but our plan is to make at least 1,500 available every day until this thing clears up.

“So, we want to make sure that we saturate the market in a very short time and I think you can see clearly now that Lagos is almost cleared and Abuja is getting better. Other places will follow,” he said.

Story by David Oputah