NNPCL Says It is Not Subsidizing Petrol, Predicts Nigeria Exporting the Product in 2024

Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) says it is not subsidizing the petrol it is importing into the country, following the removal of subsidy from the product.

The company’s group Managing Director, Mele Kyari dismissed reports of the return of petrol subsidy due to the rise in the global price of crude oil.

Kyari told the state house correspondents after a meeting with President Tinubu on Monday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said that NNPCL was recovering the full costs of petroleum products it is now importing into the country.

But for the subsidy removal, Kyari said NNPCL would have gone bankrupt by last June as the subsidy was not being funded by the Federal Government.

According to him, between 2022 and May 29, 2023 NNPCL was paid for the subsidy on the petrol it was importing and selling below the landing cost of the products.

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Kyari at another forum on Monday, predicted that Nigeria would emerge as a net importer of petrol as from next year.

He explained that foreign exchange challenges facing private marketers has made NNPCL again to be the sole importer of petrol in the country.

He said NNPCL was able to sustain its importation of petrol and selling at N600 per litre because it is generating foreign exchange it required to import the products.

The NNPCL boss also blamed the fuel queue resurfacing in some parts of the country on logistics and intense competition among the petroleum products marketers.

He said supply of petrol was still ongoing uninterrupted and that NNPCL has over N1.4 billion litres in stock.

He also emphasised that there were no issues with the delivery of products.

Regarding foreign exchange issues, Kyari mentioned that the government was actively working to ensure a stable foreign exchange market.

He acknowledged that the current exchange rate of around N770 to the US dollar was part of the transition towards a more stable market, aligning prices of petroleum products with other commodities.