The Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, made the revelation on Monday during a stakeholders’ engagement in Lagos.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has said that oil marketers have commenced the importation of Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as fuel as the marketers brought first shipment after the subsidy removal by the Nigerian government.
The Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, made the revelation on Monday during a stakeholders’ engagement in Lagos.
According to Ahmed, of the 56 oil marketing companies that applied for and obtained licences, 10 indicated the ability to import in the third quarter of 2023, while three had “landed cargo”.
He listed the three companies currently importing the product to include, A.Y. Ashafa, Prudent Energy, and Emadeb, adding that others would import between August and September.
The announcement of the importation of the first shipment of fuel by the NMDPRA comes seven weeks after President Bola Tinubu’s May 29 inaugural speech when he declared that “fuel subsidy is gone”.
SaharaReporters had on July 11 reported that the acting Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, meanwhile said the removal of subsidy by the Tinubu Government did not stop the smuggling of stolen crude oils from Nigerian to neighbouring countries.
Adeniyi had made the disclosure on the sidelines of a sensitisation workshop on the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 for management staff of the NCS in Abuja.
He had remarked as the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited announced it apprehended a suspected Cameroon-bound tanker carrying crude oil.
SaharaReporters reported that NNPCL intercepted a vessel with 800,000 litres of stolen crude oil.
The vessel – MT TURA II (IMO number: 6620462) – belonging to Holab Maritime Services Limited, was apprehended offshore with the Captain and Crew members on board.
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Limited, Garba Deen Muhammad, in a statement had said, “Following the receipt of credible intelligence, a Private Security Contractor engaged by NNPC Ltd., Messrs. Tantita Security Services, intercepted a suspicious Vessel with Cargo of Crude oil on board on July 7, 2023.
“The Vessel, MT TURA II (IMO number: 6620462), owned by a Nigerian Registered Company, HOLAB MARITIME SERVICES LIMITED with Registration Number RC813311, was heading to Cameroon with the Cargo on board when it was apprehended at an offshore location (Latitude: 5.8197194477543235°, Longitude: 4.789002723991871°), with the Captain and Crew members on board.”