Emadeb Energy Breaks NNPC’s Hold As First Batch of Its 27m Litres Imported Petrol Arrives Lagos

The 27 million litres first batch of petrol imported by an independent marketer has arrived in the country, putting an end to a downstream monopoly market once enjoyed by the NNPCL.

The vessel, ST Nnene earlier billed to arrive since last week, but was held down off Lome waters due to adverse weather, birthed at Ijegun-Egba on Wednesday.

ST Nnene had cost Emadeb Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, Adebowale Olujimi, and its bank partners of $17m (about N13b) to hire.

Five financial institutions –Polaris, First Bank, Union Bank, Access Bank and Fidelity Bank had bankrolled the deal.

Olujimi said petrol importation was no longer sustainable, resuscitating local refining was the way to go.

“Petrol importation is not a sustainable way for a country to run. From what we saw yesterday when PMS price rose to over N600 per litre, it is an indication that the dynamics of the business is a tough one. It requires huge US dollars to bring in this. The way forward is for local refineries to be revived,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed explained that the development was an important milestone since the downstream sector was deregulated.

“This is what we have been looking forward to. When we talk about deregulation, people think it’s all about increasing prices. No. Although prices would now be determined by market dynamics, deregulation also opens up the market for other players to come in. Yes, we would experience teething problems at first; however, if market forces are allowed to come into play, prices would eventually go down due to high competition. We assure that NMDPRA would continue to ensure quality control of products being sold to the public.”

General Secretary, the Natural Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Afolabi Olawale, also canvassed for local refining.

“If we want to go for deregulation, we should not go for importation. We should submit our economy to be determined by foreign firms. But since we are there now, the government needs to speed up on palliatives because things are hard on everybody. We also enjoin marketers to shun excessive profiteering,” Olawale said.