Three among the 10 oil marketers that indicated that they are able to import Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the third quarter of this year, which is July, August and September have started bringing in the product to the country.
On the whole a total of 56 companies applied to get license to import Premium Motor Spirit or Petrol.
The Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDRA) has therefore enjoined others to double their efforts at bringing in more petrol so as to make the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) less dominant in the supply of product to the country
Speaking to press men after a meeting with the marketers in Lagos, the Authority Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed, stated that the meeting was call to encourage marketers to bring in more PMS or petrol and to know if there is anywhere the Authority or government can intervene or assist them.
“If you recall, you will remember that Mr. President at his inauguration speech, said subsidy is gone, and we encouraged all the marketing companies who are interested to come forward for license to import. So this meeting I call to thank some of them that actually took that offer”
“The three companies that have landed cargoes already are Prudent Energy, AYM Shafa and Embedeb, while others have indicated interest to import in August and September, so the meeting was just to encourage them to import so that can displace NNPC dominance in the market.”
“Because the market is open for us to compete and we want to encourage all the marketing companies to come and conduct their normal business in this arena.”
He said that the marketers have choices of where they go to import the product, but if the NNPC alone goes to import it means it has an advantage over them and the Authority does not want any dominant player in the market.
“But it would be nice to give them words of encouragement, ask them if there is any area they need support from the regulator or the government so that they can encourage them to participate.
He said the NMDRA is performing the regulatory oversight of the industry and also in partnership with Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission ( FCCPC) in terms of consumer protection so that no marketer takes advantage.
But the most important thing that the Authority focus on is the quality of the product so that it does affect motorists or individuals in terms of damages to their cars or equipment
In NMDRA we have been able to upgrade our Health Safety and Environment (HSE) directorate so that we can have a good laboratory where tests are carried out.