Nigeria plans to increase the amount of crude oil it switches for vital petrol imports as it battles with the worst economic crisis in years.

An over 60% decline in oil prices in the global market since 2014 has hit the country’s economy and initiated a currency crisis, making the country witness a lack of funds to pay for the importation of oil products.

In past weeks, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had signed deals with seven refining companies, which includes Eni, Essar, Litasco, Total, Cepsa, Societe Ivorienne de Raffinage (SIR) and Varo, not excluding local partners, to take oil in exchange for gasoline imports.

“Nobody wants to see people spend two hours on fuel queues. We are working on long-term solutions,” the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu had said.

According to Leadership news, under the first agreements, each of the companies are to lift about 90,000 tonnes of gasoline in exchange for each 950,000 barrel cargo of oil, irrespective of the grade together with other products.

This means that NNPC will be exchanging 330,000 bpd of crude in total, more than the 210,000 bpd it initially agreed with four refineries in 2015. The new agreements is anticipated to commence with the April crude loading programmes.

Anita Fatunji