Premium motor spirit (PMS) is currently topping the chart on the volume of refined petroleum products imported into the country, as a total of 5.61 billion litres of PMS was brought into the country in the second quarter of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report, has stated.
According to the report, automotive gas oil (AGO) followed in volume with 1.38 billion litres; the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) was the third-highest with 354.70 million litres, and aviation turbine kerosene (ATK) was the fourth highest in volume with 131.36 million litres. Base oil became the fifth-highest product imported with 77.24 million litres.
The report further revealed that bitumen is the sixth with the volume of 41.79 million litres; low pour fuel oil (LPFO) took the seventh position in terms of volume with 27.68 million litres while Household kerosene (HHK) appeared to be the least refined product that was imported into the country in the quarter under review, with 12.22 million litres.
In terms of state-wide distribution of truck-out volume, the report showed that 5.18 billion of PMS; 1.28 billion litres of AGO; 131.42 million litres of HHK; 176.14 million litres of aviation turbine kerosene, and 157.29 million of LPG were distributed nationwide during the period under review.
Speaking while presenting a separate report tagged the Nigerian Downstream Oil & Gas Industry recently released by Agusto & Co., Yomi Akinola, analyst with the rating agency, said the Downstream segment of the Oil & Gas industry had witnessed a lull in recent years due to import constraints and cost-unreflective pump prices- particularly for PMS, which accounts for over two-thirds of white fuel consumption.
Akinola said that the report identified access to credit from financial institutions given the weak financial condition of operators (particularly independent marketers), who are burdened by soaring receivables from the Federal Government of Nigeria under the Petroleum Support Fund programme, as another major constraint to growth.
In terms of distribution and consumption, the Agusto report stated that Lagos leads in PMS, AGO, LPG, Aviation fuel consumption given the strong population in the state as well as the fact that a good number of airlines prefer to refuel in Lagos.
“Rivers leads in consumption of household kerosene (HHK). This has seen significant reduction because of the increase in the use of cooking gas by people. Lagos has the largest retail outlet. Research shows that ability for operators to compete is hinged on location, geopolitical zone, city or interstate road. These are some of the things driving consumption,” Agusto report added.
Akinola however said that pricing of products remained a top subject, not just in Nigeria, but globally, largely driven by demand pressures vis-à-vis the ability to refine crude oil, supply dynamics of refined products and regulatory peculiarities.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
