By Obas Esiedesa, Abuja
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has said the Federal Government’s approval of 830,000 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, imports for the fourth quarter of 2026 must translate into stronger competition and lower petrol prices for consumers.
IPMAN’s Public Relations Officer, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, said the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, acted within its statutory mandate by issuing the import licences.
He, however, said the impact of the imports would depend on whether the approved marketers could bring in products capable of competing with petrol supplied by domestic refineries, particularly the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Speaking in a telephone interview with Vanguard, Ukadike said the issuance of import licences was not the same as actual availability of the product.
“It is their statutory obligation. It is their statutory obligation in their role as watchman of the industry and their statutory performance. They are doing their job as NMDPRA,” he said.
On the likely impact of the imports on consumers and petrol availability, he said: “The issue is availability. Issuing the licence is not availability. It is those that this licence has been issued, the ability to bring in products to compete with the local refinery.”
Ukadike said the imports would benefit consumers if the products were landed and sold at prices below those of locally refined petrol.
“If their product will be cheaper than that of Dangote, it will be a welcome development. But if it’s higher than that of Dangote, I think that it is an exercise in futility,” he said.
The NMDPRA’s latest approval covers the importation of 830,000MT of petrol in the fourth quarter, ahead of the Christmas period when demand for petroleum products is expected to increase.
According to Petroleumprice.ng, the permits were issued to six major petroleum marketers — Matrix Energy, AA Rano, AYM Shafa, NIPCO, Pinnacle Oil and Bono Energy.
The six companies had also benefited from the regulator’s petrol import programme earlier in the year.
In the first quarter, the companies received a combined 180,000MT in import permits, while the allocation rose to 720,000MT in the second quarter. The third-quarter allocation was subsequently increased to more than 800,000MT.
The latest approval comes amid rising domestic refining capacity, particularly from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which has increased its supply of petrol to the Nigerian market.
The continued issuance and renewal of petrol import licences has also been the subject of a legal dispute, with Dangote Refinery challenging the NMDPRA’s decision to grant import licences in circumstances where the refinery argues that domestic supply is sufficient.
Data recently released by the NMDPRA showed that domestic refineries supplied about 76.7 per cent of Nigeria’s total petrol supply in the first quarter of 2026, while petrol imports declined by about 60 per cent year-on-year to approximately 965.5 million litres.
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