The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has stopped importing refined petroleum products, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the company, Mele Kyari, has said.
Kyari made this known in a keynote address at the 42nd annual international conference and exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), on Monday in Lagos.
He explained that NNPC now buys fuel from domestic refineries, including Dangote. “Today, NNPC does not import any product; we are taking only from domestic refineries,” Kyari added.
“We saw an opportunity that there is a clear market for at least 300,000 barrels of our production; we know that as time moves on, people will start struggling to find markets for their production.
“It will happen, It’s already happening. Oil is found, as you know, in many unexpected locations across the world and people have choices.
“Therefore, we saw an opportunity to log supply to the domestic refinery, not just Dangote but any other refinery that operates in the country, so it was a very informed business decision.
“Therefore, from day one, we knew that it is to our benefit to supply crude oil to the domestic refinery, so we don’t need to be persuaded; we don’t need anyone to talk to us, there is no need for any pressure from the streets for us to do this. We are already doing this.”
