Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu.
The massive rise in the quantity of fuel imports from Malta recently occupied the country’s news media space in the wake of revelations by Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Nigeria’s petroleum importation from Malta, in 2023, surged significantly to $2.8 billion, compared to zero between 2017 and 2022, and a mere $13.32 million in 2016.
Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL), immediately denied Dangote’s claim, saying he did not have interest in any plant in Malta.
Revelation has presently emerged of the identity of one of the biggest importers via the tiny European country.
The man behind the mask is Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu, owner of Matrix Energy and member of the Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC).
However, Aliu, in a media chat strenuously denied any wrong-doing in his business practices, promising a full response to the questions raised.
Over 200,000 tonnes of petrol from Malta, inJuly 2024 alone, were discharged into the Matrix jetty in Warri, Delta State, disclosed an insider who mads available confidential documents.
Said the insider: “This represents about 25 percent of Nigeria’s monthly PMS consumption going to a relatively small player with only 150 retail stations.
The insider said Aliu was also leveraging his close relations with the top management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) to secure crude oil cargoes from the national oil company for his company.
“Crude cargoes are discretionarily allocated to Matrix Energy by the NNPC monthly”.
The crude allocations to Matrix are traded by Gulf Transport & Trading (GTT), a trading company registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), revealed the insider.
Said the source: “Two of the three crude cargoes of the recently launched Utapate grade were allocated to GTT.
“The crude cargoes are typically sold at a $3 per barrel premium which translates to $3 million per cargo with no sweat. This implies a tax-free take of almost $150 million per year or N240 billion, at N1,600/$”.
NNPC, on August 5, introduced the Utapate crude oil blend into the international market.
The new crude oil grade is from an oil mining lease (OML) 13, fully operated by NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), an upstream subsidiary of NNPC.
Matrix, which has three old ships (Matrix Pride, Matrix Triumph, and Matrix S.ILU), reportedly loads diesel products exported from Russia in Lome, Togo.
The diesel from Russia, it is understood, is typically off-spec and is often corrected in places like Lome and Malta through blending with other components.
However, on June 16, about 15,000 tonnes of diesel — loaded on May 26 from Novorossiysk, Russia, and transported by a vessel, MT Kallos, were reportedly transloaded into Matrix Triumph offshore Lome without corrections and discharged into Matrix jetty in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria, on June 21.
Another 15,000 tonnes were on June 19, transloaded into Matrix Pride and then discharged into the Obat Oil terminal on June 22.
In seen documents, the products from Malta were transported through intermediate ships and sometimes through intermediate companies like Poly Pro Trading registered in Dubai Free Trade Zone.
Their listed office at OneJLT Towers 05.015, Dubai, is a business centre without any physical presence, revealed checks.
Said the insider source: “Malta is now the top European destination for blending and ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products ever since the Greek Navy decided to stop such activities in their offshore zone.
“About 35 percent of shipment into Malta is naphtha and other components which are blended into gasoline to produce lower quality ‘African Spec’. This lower quality spec is then transhipped into various vessels for delivery into Nigeria to be sold to unsuspecting public who suffer frequent vehicle and equipment breakdowns”.
An oil blending plant has no refining capability but can be used to blend re-refined oil (a used motor oil that has been treated to remove dirt, fuel, and water) with additives to create finished lubricant products.
