LAGOS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Nigerian state oil company NNPC
has extended for six months its contracts with private companies
to swap crude oil for fuels, two sources familiar with the
contracts told Reuters.
The initial one-year contracts to exchange more than 300,000
barrels per day (bpd) with 15 company pairings were due to
expire in October.
The sources said the companies renegotiated the price
agreement due to changes to fuel prices in Nigeria.
The contracts supply a large portion of Nigeria's gasoline,
and some of its diesel and jet fuel, as it has not been
profitable for private importers to bring in fuel.
Nigeria recently stopped setting a gasoline price cap at the
pump, a decision it says will eliminate costly subsidies and
enable the private sector to begin importing again.
Subsidiary PPMC still sets an ex depot price for fuels
imported by NNPC. This, combined with dollar shortages, has thus
far made it difficult for some importers to bring in fuels
outside the contracts.