NIMASA wants NNPC to involve local shipowners in crude oil lifting

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to involve indigenous shipowners in the affreightment of crude oil in line with the cabotage regime.

The director-general, NI- MASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, disclosed this in Lagos when he received a delegation from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) led by the newly appointed group general manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division, NNPC, Sir Billy Okoye.

Jamoh appealed for more local content in the transportation of the country’s crude in line with the cabotage regime, also disclosed the agency’s efforts to change the terms of trade for the affreightment of Nigerian crude oil from Free on Board (FOB) to Cost Insurance and Freight (CIF).

The NIMASA boss who had recently paid a similar working visit to the group managing director of NNPC, Mele Kyari, at the corporation’s headquarters in Abuja expressed NIMASA’s appreciation to the corporation for accommodating the agency’s interests in transactions where the maritime regulator relied on data from the national oil company.

The NIMASA DG also revealed that the Agency was working towards the implementation of a National Maritime Security Strategy to improve security in Nigerian waters and reduce the cost of shipping.

While addressing the meeting earlier, Okoye declared that NIMASA was a critical stakeholder in the business of crude oil sale.

He said his goal was to get the two agencies of government interfacing more closely with each other to resolve challenges and ensure seamless movement of crude and petroleum products in the country.