Xmas/New year: NNPC, BP sign PMS supply agreement

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it has signed a six-month Direct Sale-Direct Purchase (DSDP) agreement with the British Petroleum’s (BP) trading arm, BP Oil International Ltd, for the supply of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol.

The corporation said the move was part of measures to sustain the robust supply of petroleum products across the country and especially going into the Yuletide period and beyond.

This latest agreement will represent 20 percent of NNPC’s total PMS supply under the DSDP arrangement, which basically allows the corporation to exchange crude oil with international oil traders for imported petroleum products over a period of time.

The deal according to a statement by NNPC spokesman Ndu Ughamadu was signed on Thursday in Abuja.

Speaking shortly after the ceremony at the NNPC Towers, the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, said NNPC was committed to products availability by inviting new and old players to play in the Nigerian oil sector.

He said over the years, BP had demonstrated the capacity and robustness to augment the forecasted shortfall by NNPC, especially as the winter period approaches and as the nation’s elections get underway early into the New Year.

The NNPC helmsman also commended BP for choosing to partner with AYM Shafa, a local oil company, which he said had been expanding its downstream footprints across the nook and cranny of the country.

“BP’s partnership with AYM Shafa towards delivering on its DSDP obligations makes it a perfect fit for our plans to ensure that there is adequate supply of products throughout the coming Yuletide. In AYM Shafa, you are talking of a local company with over 150 retail outlets, depots as well as a good network of trucks nationwide,” Baru added.

Responding, Mr. John Goodridge, the Head of Marketing & Origination of BP’s oil trading business, said it was a great honour for his company to be trusted by the NNPC as one of its strategic suppliers.

“We are delighted to have the opportunity to work more closely with the NNPC. Going forward, we hope to grow this mutual relationship to greater things,” Goodridge added.