The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has stated that the Federal Government is working towards the NNPC becoming the sole importer of petroleum products. Fuel subsidies and FOREX differentials that are granted on bank loans are to end soon.
President Buhari has directed the NNPC to cut down on importation by reactivating four of the countries refineries and ensuring that they function at their full capacity.
The oil and gas industry in Nigeria has been a huge topic of discussion on social media of recent. Many have been using the hashtag #FixOurOil to create awareness about the flaws within the industry and also to demand change from the Federal Government. Listed below are facts that have been shared by BudgIT, an organisation that seeks to grant the public access to government spending:
- One million barrels of oil per day are sold by the NNPC. This represents half of the total production per day.
- $6billion is the estimate of spending that has been unaccounted for by the NNPC from the Domestic Crude Allocation every year between 2011 and 2013.
- 80,243 barrels of oil were produced by the NPDC (a subsidiary of the NNPC) and none of the proceeds from the sale of this oil have been forwarded to the oil treasury.
- Almost 20% of oil that has been allocated for sale by the NNPC was exchanged for petroleum products within poorly defined arrangements.
- 445,000 barrels of oil are allocated to the NNPC for refining and sales, yet about three quarters of this is exported through the Oil for Product Swap.
The decision from the Federal Government should therefore eventually maximise the full potential of the petroleum industry and reduce the level of corruption that takes place within the industry. Emefiele said:
“The President came on board and said that we will work very hard to reduce importation of petroleum products by ensuring that our refineries work. Our refineries are working now. The Warri and Port Harcourt refineries have started producing. They have not obtained the optimal capacity but they will. The Kaduna refinery will start working this month. Now, there are other actions that the Presidency is putting in place to ensure that we reduce importation of petroleum products where the NNPC will solely, almost solely be responsible for procuring refined petroleum. Those who are importing petroleum products will only just need to go to the NNPC and pick up petroleum products. So, in that area, I would say that we are already moving in the direction of reducing the import of petroleum products. And we will achieve it. On the efforts being made by the President to recoup stolen oil revenues believed to have been deposited in foreign banks, Emefiele said the issue was still being looked at, assuring that as the Central Bank, we will also assist in drilling them once we get to that stage, and we will be happy to have that money back because it will improve our reserves.”
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