The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, has disclosed that Nigeria is the only member country in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that imports petrol, and currently the largest importer of the product in the world.
Baru, who spoke through NNPC’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Upstream, Alhaji Bello Rabiu, at the 2018 Oloibiri Lecture Series (OLEF) while responding to questions from delegates, said Nigeria had reached such import levels because the refineries had not worked to their maximum capacity.
“As we speak today, Nigeria is the only OPEC country that imports petrol and we are the largest importer of PMS in the world,” Baru said.
“We actually import one million tonnes of PMS every month into a country that produces oil and gas and has refinery. It is a shameful thing, it doesn’t make sense and that is what we are trying to address,” he added. He said the refineries have not been operating at maximum capacity, but that the NNPC was working to address these challenges with the imminent announcement of investors who would bring in funding for the repair of the plants.