The industry regulator, the Nigeria Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), has granted licences to six companies to import premium motor spirit (PMS) or gasoline into the nation as of July.
This is in keeping with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021’s rules and the complete liberalisation of the downstream industry.
The only importer of the commodity up to this point has been the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL).
According to the PIA, Each person or business can import up to 30% of the nation’s entire domestic fuel demand.
Farouk Ahmed, the head of NMDPRA, did not specify the names of the businesses but said that Dangote Group, a company that just opened a refinery, is not one of the six companies permitted for gasoline import.
“Six businesses have indicated that they plan to import petroleum in July. Of course, everyone else is free to import in November, December, or any time, but as of this morning, six people had shown interest in bringing in gasoline in July (yesterday). The fact that there are interests makes it so beautiful because it allows them to import since they have access to foreign currency, Ahmed remarked.
He pointed out that because the Authority is accessible to anybody interested in importing, anyone may apply for importation to get access to the port.
