The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, says it has issued a total of 94 importation licences to oil marketers.

This was revealed by the Chief Executive, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, at the opening session of the ongoing 17th Oil Trading & Logistics Expo in Lagos with the theme, ‘Energy, synergy and new beginnings’ on Monday.

While delivering the keynote address, Ahmed explained that the issuance of the permits was for wholesale suppliers to import Premium Motor Spirit into the country after removal of subsidies by President Bola Tinubu.

He however said that out of the 94 petrol permits, only eight suppliers delivered eight cargoes of PMS totalling 251,000 metric tons within the period June – September 2023 due to devaluation of the naira and high foreign exchange rate.

According to him, “94 wholesale suppliers were issued permits to import PMS into the country. Eight suppliers delivered eight cargoes of PMS totalling 251,000 MT within the period June – September 2023. This low performance was due to the challenge of forex liquidity which has constrained the Oil Marketing Companies’ ability to import the product.”

He however said the Federal Government was hopeful that the necessary efforts being taken to improve the stability of harmonised forex market; would support the importation of petrol by more oil marketing companies alongside the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.