No fewer than 23 vessels were hired by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in January 2024 to ferry 1.11 million tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). The fuel, imported into the country by the contracted ships, was valued at about $1.02 billion.
Findings revealed that Northern Light ferried 59,785.2 tonnes; Ariadne, 57,196.8 tonnes; Sunny Star, 30,351.18 tonnes; Chip, 29,926.022 tonnes; Darnia, 29,887.36 tonnes; Caribbean Star, 36,990.52 tonnes; Euro Champion, 36,149.490 tonnes; Minerva Mediterranea, 29,946.924 tonnes; 60,162.98 tonnes; Agile, 29,890.20 tonnes; Fotuo, 61,097.63 tonnes; Bellini, 38,041. 10 tonnes; Elka Delphi, 38,489.19 tonnes; Lysias, 60,109 tonnes; Clio, 59,996.52 tonnes and Leon Apollon, 38,039.99 tonnes.
Other vessels were Torm Solution with 89,982.89 tonnes; BW Thalassa, 37,357.66 tonnes; Elandra Sound, 93,180.46 tonnes; Sti Milwaukee, 37,357.66 tonnes; Clear Stars, 91,734.43 tonnes; Kobe, 36,848. 20 tonnes; Torm Gwendolyn, 94,400.55 tonnes and Sebarok Spirit, 89,999.75 tonnes.
Data by the company also revealed that quotes for the shipments of the fuel ranged between $730/ per tonne and $845/ tonne. In January, the country took delivery of 55.1 pounds worth of PMS from United Kingdom Also, this month, data obtained from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA)’s shipping position indicated that three vessels were expected to offload 77,445 tonnes of PMS at the Lagos Port jetties as PS Queen arrived with 30,000 tonnes; Pericles, 37, 045 tonnes and Grace Leo, 10,400 tonnes. It would be recalled that, last week, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) explained that the country spent about N7.5 trillion on PMS import, dropping by 2.51 percent compared with N7.7 trillion fuel imported in 2022.
The NBS reported that petroleum product imports accounted for about 33 per cent of total imports of about N36 trillion in 2023, while PMS imports accounted for about 21 percent of total imports. Giving a breakdown of the amount spent on petroleum products imported every quarter, the bureau stated that N3.3 trillion, N3.4 trillion, N2.2 trillion and about N3 trillion worth of petrol were imported in the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2023 respectively, stressing that in the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2022, the country spent N3.5 trillion, N2.4 trillion, N2.3 trillion and N1.9 trillion on fuel imports, respectively.
Also in January, February, March, April, May and June 2023, the bureau said that N1 trillion, N879 billion, N1 trillion, N913 billion, N774 billion and N540 billion spent respectively, noting that in July, August, September, October, November and December 2023, the country spent N959 billion, N1.3 trillion, N1.7 trillion, N1.3 trillion, N1.2 trillion and N810 billion on fuel import, respectively. In the fourth quarter, the bureau also explained that PMS imports accounted for about 13 per cent of total imports, ranking second on the most imported commodity.
In March this year, no fewer than 150,140 tonnes (150.14 million litres) Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) valued at N151.5 billion were offloaded at various port jetties in Lagos, Rivers, Tincan and Delta ports when landing cost at port was 1,009 per litres.
The landing cost which includes the product’s international price, shipping, port charges, insurance and other charges was increased to N1,009/litre from N720/ litre in October 2023 because of the unstable foreign exchange of naira to dollar. According to NPA’s shipping data, the march 2024 imports was 20.1 per cent higher than the 120,000 tonnes imported in February 2024 as Beks Fenix offloaded 37,140 tonnes at Bulk Oil Plant (BOP), Apapa.
Also at Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT) Phase 3a and KLT Phase 3b, ST Ilhaam and Keonamex Victory discharged 15,000 tonnes each as Leste berthed at Rivers Port with 23,000 tonnes. At Delta Port, Binta Saleh discharged 15, 000 tonnes; Watson , 15,000 tonnes; Matrix S. Ilu, 15,000 tonnes and Matrix Triumph, 15,000 tonnes. In February, seven vessels offloaded 120 million litres (120,000 tonnes) of the fuel valued at N73.8 billion was imported. However, the imports were down by 57.4 percent from January’s 281, 143 tonnes due to high exchange rate of dollar to naira and unstable Customs import duty.
