The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has said that the majority of oil marketers have stopped importing Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, popularly known as petrol, following improved and consistent supply from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Abubakar Garima, IPMAN’s national president, who disclosed this in an interview with TheCable on Monday, noted that the refinery’s output has significantly reduced the need for fuel importation into the country.
According to Mr Garima, the Dangote refinery has been operating steadily and refining petroleum products on a consistent basis, including during peak demand periods such as the festive season, thereby preventing fuel scarcity nationwide.
“Most marketers are no longer importing petrol because the Dangote refinery is supplying enough products to meet local demand,” Mr Garima said.
“The refinery has been consistent in production, even during the festive period, and this has helped to stabilise supply across the country.”
He explained that the availability of locally refined petrol has eased distribution challenges and reduced the pressure associated with foreign exchange demand for fuel importation, which had previously contributed to supply disruptions.
Mr Garima added that the steady supply from the refinery has also helped to ensure relative stability in fuel availability at filling stations, with fewer reports of queues and shortages in major cities and rural areas.
The IPMAN president described the development as a major milestone for Nigeria’s downstream oil sector, stressing that local refining is gradually addressing long-standing challenges linked to import dependency.
“With local refining, we are beginning to see the benefits Nigerians have waited for over the years. It reduces our exposure to international market shocks and logistics delays,” he said.
He further expressed optimism that as the Dangote refinery ramps up production and other local refineries come on stream, Nigeria could achieve near self-sufficiency in petrol supply, with attendant benefits for energy security and the economy.
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Nigeria has for decades relied heavily on imported refined petroleum products due to the poor performance of its state-owned refineries.
The commencement of large-scale operations at the Dangote refinery is widely seen as a turning point in reversing that trend.
Source: https://dailynigerian.com/https://dailynigerian.com/most-marketers-halt-petrol-importation-as-dangote-refinery-takes-over-supply-ipman/
