N2trn spent on 19bn litres of fuel in 2016

A whooping sum of Two Trillion Naira was spent on the importation of 19 billion litres ofpetrol product in 2016.

The figures were contained in the Petroleum Products Import Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), released on Friday.

According to the NBS, the total volume (litres) of fuel imported in 2016 was 18,812,253,160.59 and at the total cost of N2,019,611,883,820.93.

The amount spent in 2016 was far higher than what was spent on the petroleum product in 2013, 2014 and 2015, which were N264.85billion, N1.202trillion and N1.29trillion, respectively

According to the latest report by NBS, 18.8bn litres of PMS, 4.89billion litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and 713.79 million litres of Household Kerosene (HHK), valued at N2.01trillion, N505.8billion and N70.7billion, respectively, were imported into the country during the year under review.

The report also indicated that the month of May 2016 recorded the highest volumes of premium motor spirits (PMS) imported into the country at 2.02bn litres, valued at N249.88bn

The month coincided with when the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, officially announced, on 11 May, 2016, the deregulation of PMS importation, a step which he then said was aimed at improving its supply nationwide.

Using the NBS/Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) as its data source, the bureau further gave a breakdown of the volume of fuel imported and the amount spent throughout 2016.

For the month of January, the sum of N115, 670,126,149.96 was spent on the importation of 1,729, 776,075.22 litres of PMS at the average landing cost of N66.87 per litre.

In February, N82,128,790,624.74 was expended on the importation of 1,305,496,592.35 litres of PMS at the landing cost of 62.91 per litre.

In March, N101, 772,277,702.31 was spent to import 1,466,248,057.95 litres of the petroleum product at the landing cost of N69.41 per litre.

For the month of April, 1,627,123,998.27 litres of PMS were imported at the cost of N132,122,468,659.52 and at the landing cost of N81.2 per litre.

A total sum of N249,876,219,956.25 was spent to import 2,026,078,163.92 litres of fuel in the month of May (the month of the highest volume of fuel importation), at the landing cost of N123.33 per litre.

For the month of June, NBS disclosed that the sum of N179,641,767,786.49 was spent to import 1,455,178,353 litres of fuel at the landing cost of 123.45 per litre.

In July, N174,517,229,648.66 was spent to import 1,535,432,251.00 litres of fuel at the landing cost of N113.66 per litre, while in August, N185,514,441,045.48 was spent to import 1,501,168,806.00 at the landing cost of N1213.58 per litre.

In September, N168,739,046,964.88 was expended on the importation of 1,335,172,076.00 litres of PMS at the landing cost of N126.38 per litre and N189,810,703,336.80 was spent to import 1,431,453,268.00 litres in October at the landing cost of N132.6 per litre.

For the months of November and December, N201,689,879,969.80 was spent to import 1,657,270,994.00 litres at the landing cost of N121.7 per litre and N238,128,931,976.04 spent on 1,741,854,524.00 litres at the landing cost of N136.71 per litre, respectively.