ABUJA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Nigerian state oil company NNPCsaid on Sunday that 15 companies had won the right to swap thenation's crude oil for fuels following a tender for the deals.
About 132 companies bid for the deals, Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corp (NNPC) said in May. The tender forthe one-year contracts effective Oct. 1, dubbed direct sale,direct-purchase (DSDP), was issued in March.
Nigeria is almost entirely reliant on imported fuel becauseof years of neglect at its own refineries. It has leaned heavilyon the swap arrangements to get fuel, particularly gasoline, asother would-be importers struggle to make money due to pricecaps.
NNPC said the companies that won the bids were made up ofconsortia of 15 companies including Vitol, Trafigura, oil major BP and local downstream companies.
Since the scheme was introduced in 2016, replacing aprogramme that paid subsidies to importers, NNPC has said it hadsaved the nation $2.2 billion and supplied some 90 percent ofits import requirements.(Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Additional reporting byCamillus Eboh; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by PeterCooney)
BP (BP.)