Why Nigeria can’t curb petrol smuggling for now
Nigeria cannot stop petrol smuggling to neighbouring nations except certain issues are addressed.
This was disclosed by the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Myele Kyari in a statement signed by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Garba-Deen Muhammad.
According to the statement, Kyari said that with a price difference of over N100 per litre between what is sold in Nigeria and in neighbouring countries, it was difficult to cage the activities of petrol smugglers.
He said while the corporation was working in concert with other agencies to combat the menace and had made noticeable progress, the battle was yet to be won.
NNPC stated, “As long as there is arbitrage between the price that you sell and what is obtainable elsewhere, you can be sure that it is very difficult to contain the situation.”
Kyari emphasised that the activities of smugglers had also made it difficult for the country to determine the actual consumption figures for petrol, noting that the corporation could only know what was trucked out from loading depots across the country but could not determine how much of that was consumed in-country.
On the MTEF assumptions, the GMD reiterated a base oil price scenario of $57 per barrel for 2022, $61 per barrel for 2023 and $62 per barrel for 2024 predicated on a base national production of 1.883 million barrels per day in 2022, 2.234 million barrels per day in 2023 and 2.218 million barrels per day in 2024.
Kyari explained that the assumptions were arrived at after consultations with the Ministry of Finance and other relevant stakeholders while also undertaking a careful appraisal of the three-year historical dated Brent Oil Price average of $59.07 per barrel premised on Platts spot prices among other considerations.
He reiterated that price growth was to be moderated by the lingering concerns over COVID-19, increased energy efficiency as well as obvious switching due to increased utilisation of gas and alternatives for electricity generation.
