The federal government has granted approval to six new companies to import petroleum products next month, the Authority Chief Executive, the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDRA), Farouk Ahmed, has said.
However, Ahmed, while speaking with State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa, did not reveal the names of the companies, but said many companies also applied for permits to import petroleum in due course.
He debunked the insinuation that the NNPC Limited (NNPCL) had given approval to the Dangote Group to import petroleum, saying that the company has no power to grant such an approval.
“There are several companies that applied for a fuel importation permit. So, you can apply for importation to get access to the port. And by the way, we are open to all those who are interested in importing.
“We have guidelines which are not very stringent because we’re trying to encourage importation.
“There are six companies who said they want to import fuel in July. Of course, all the others may import in November, in December, or anytime but only six had expressed interest to bring in fuel in July as of this morning.
“The beauty of it is that there are interests, which means that they have been able to have access to foreign exchange in order to import.
“Now, as we go along, of course, we’ll be briefing you on the progress or the achievements so far, but the important thing is that NNPCL has 30 days of fuel sufficiency, so we do not anticipate any gaps in supply or in distribution,” he said.
We have guidelines which are not very stringent because we’re trying to encourage importation.
