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Russia-Ukraine war may worsen petrol scarcity in Nigeria
By Ibrahim Adeleke
Indications have emerged that the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine may worsen the raging petrol scarcity in Nigeria.
This is as refined products coming into the country may face delay due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
It was gathered that products could be hindered from leaving refineries in the region on schedule.
Nigeria imports its refined petroleum products as its refineries are currently dormant.
“What we face now could be described as a perfect storm, which is when many things go wrong at the same time. We have a fundamental problem, but that problem happens at a time that other things happened and so it aggravates everything,” an oil trader with the NNPC, who pleaded not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the matter, stated.
The source added, “Now, Russia has attacked Ukraine. What is the impact of Russia’s attack of Ukraine on Nigeria? Russia is an oil-producing country, for Ukraine, our refined products come from that part of the world, not only Western Europe.
“So, the price has gone up because our refined products come from that part of the world and disturbances such as the one happening there will impact supply one way or the other.”
Meanwhile, it was gathered that traders supplying Nigeria with refined petroleum products may also suspend their activities due to the deficit in the supply of crude oil cargoes from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
NNPC brings in refined petrol into Nigeria using contractors or traders through its Direct Sale Direct Purchase scheme.
Under the scheme, the oil company provides crude oil to its trading partners, who in turn supply the NNPC with refined products worth the volume of crude received from the national oil company.
But sources both at the oil firm and among traders stated on Sunday that Nigeria through the NNPC had a deficit of about 17 cargoes in its DSDP obligation due to low oil production.
This, they said, could further prolong the fuel scarcity situation being faced nationwide, except something drastic such as the complete deregulation of the downstream oil sector was implemented.
