Indications have emerged that Nigeria may witness another round of fuel scarcity as importers have complained about their inability to access dollars needed to import the commodity.
Also, it was learnt that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has not been able to sign agreements quickly enough to exchange crude oil for refined petrol after it canceled previous swap agreements through which refined fuel is imported into the country.
The corporation had recently announced it will begin in March a new swap process called direct-sale direct-purchase to make refined petrol available to Nigerians.
Traders and local sources told Reuters that new fuel bookings have shrunk as importers cannot get the dollars needed to import fuel.
“It has ground to a halt. Nothing is finalized … so there is literally zero discussion going on,”One trader said of new petrol fixtures.
Sources told Reuters that NNPC is trying to sign additional long-term contracts to cover well beyond the 210,000 bpd of oil that was exchanged in the past.
Trading houses and refineries are eager for these; a string of them travelled to Abuja over the past month to make their case, and several also met with NNPC in London.
The companies say they could quickly move vessels with gasoline to Nigeria. But negotiations are taking longer than expected, leaving a gap in imports.
