The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has cancelled a tender it issued last week to buy up to 1.55 million tonnes of gasoline from January to April, sources said on Monday.
The company was seeking 42 cargoes of gasoline, each 37,000 tonnes, on top of the volumes the Nigerian oil company is taking via ongoing crude-for-product swap contracts.
Sources said it cancelled the tender after gasoline prices spiked on the news that it was looking to purchase the relatively substantial volume of fuel
But Nigeria, in the midst of fuel queues, is still likely to increase gasoline imports in coming weeks, sources said.
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NNPC was established on 1 April 1977 as a merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel.
NNPC by law manages the joint venture between the Nigerian federal government and a number of foreign multinational corporations, which include Royal Dutch Shell, Agip, ExxonMobil, Total S.A, Chevron, and Texaco (now merged with Chevron).
Through collaboration with these companies, the Nigerian government conducts petroleum exploration and production.
In 2007, the head of the Nigerian wing of Transparency International said salaries for NNPC workers were too low to prevent graft.
