Importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol dropped by 3.5 billion litres in the last year, data gathered from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.
In the latest petroleum products distribution statistics released by the agency on Tuesday, total petrol imports reduced to 20.30 billion litres in 2023 from the 23.54 billion litres recorded in 2022, showing a decrease of 13.77 per cent year-on-year.
NBS also noted that petrol imports dropped by 3.58 billion litres in the second half of 2023 compared to the year’s first half.
It said the country imported 8.36 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in H2 (first half) of 2023, a significant decrease from the 11.94 billion litres imported in H1 2023, marking a 29.99 per cent reduction.
It said, “In 2023, PMS truck out stood at 20.22 billion litres, indicating a 16.96 per cent decrease relative to 24.35 billion litres recorded in 2022.
“In terms of imported products, 20.30 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit were imported in 2023 relative to 23.54 billion litres in 2022, showing a decrease of 13.77 per cent. This downward trend is even more notable when compared to H2 2022.
“In the latter half of 2022, petrol imports stood at 11.98 billion litres, resulting in a 30.22 per cent drop when compared to H2 2023, equivalent to a reduction of 3.62 billion litres.”
A breakdown for the monthly volume of fuel imports in 2023 showed that 2.09 billion was brought in January, reduced to 1.99 billion in February, increased to 2.29 billion in March, 1.91 billion in April, and 2.01 billion in May.
It was 1.64 billion in June, 1.45 billion in July, 1.09 billion in August, 1.21 billion in September, 1.16 billion in October, 1.55 billion in November and 1.88 billion in December.