An official with Nigeria’s petroleum department exhorted the country’s lubricant blenders recently to increase the volume of products that they export to other markets, stating that they play a key role in the nations’ economy.
According to a July 23 news release, Department of Petroleum Resources Director Auwalu Sarki made his comments during a virtual meeting with the Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria. Sarki told member companies that Nigeria has exported higher amounts of lubes in the past and has the resources to return to those levels.
“The DPR boss stated that the value created by Lupan to the Nigerian economy was immeasurable,” the news release said.
Compared to neighboring countries, Nigeria has a large number of lubricant blending plants. Given the level of finished lubricants that it imports, those plants have significant surplus capacity.
The department did not provide an estimate for the current volume of lube exports from the country. The news release said Sarki offered for the department to provide resources that would help companies to export more, though it did not specify what those resources are.
Sarki also promised that Nigeria’s government would continue efforts to combat sales of counterfeit and substandard lubricants, long considered a plague in the West African nation. The news release quoted Lupan President Alhaji Mustapha Adio as saying that Lupan would continue its cooperation with the department.