By Emmanuel Okubenji
It will be the first set of allocations since the government of Nigeria tried to remove fuel subsidy on January 1, 2012
The Federal Government is expected to give new petrol importation licenses in March, under strict monitoring and allotment.
According to market sources, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) "will award some import allocations in March with the new funds made available in the budget, but it will be restricting the number of companies and there will be closer monitoring of how the volumes are allotted and filled".
Marketers are optimistic that there could be some second-quarter allocations despite the ongoing subsidy probe by the National Assembly and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).
Despite the hike in pump price of petrol, fuel subsidy for the year is expected to be at about N888 billion, which will be taken out of spending of the federal, state and local governments in Nigeria.
This, according to sources, gives suppliers some level of security as banks have recently shown restraint in extending loan facilities to importers.
The allocation, which is expected to favour the major players in the industry, is the first official petrol allocations since the federal government tried to remove the subsidy in January.
Although, a major restructuring of the fuel importation process is anticipated, it is not clear whether the market will be fully deregulated by April as initially envisaged.
Source: Daily Times Newspapers Nigeria,
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