*Kachikwu, Baru weigh options as expert says it is against market forces
Shipowners and other stakeholders in the maritime sector are on the verge of getting the desired change in trade terms from Free On Board (FOB) to Cost Insurance and Freight (CIF) which would enable them to begin to lift Nigeria crude and ultimately boost indigenous capacity.
This move seems imperative because of the fluctuating oil prices in the global market and the need for Nigeria to take control of her export oil market but the FOB and CIF trade terms are largely market determined, experts have said, presupposing that adopting the FOB as a trade policy amounts to regulating the market and could be counter-productive in event of competition.
This new encouragement was a fall out from the stakeholders’ engagement on changing Nigeria’s crude oil affreightment trade term from FOB to CIF which was organised by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety (NIMASA) held on Tuesday at the NNPC towers in Abuja.
The Minister of State For Petroleum Dr. Ibe Kachikwu who declared the event open welcomed the development, noting that the issue on this trade term is an aged long challenge that has lingered too far and charged participants to come out with resounding resolutions that would be of National benefit.
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside who presented a paper titled, The Imperatives of Changing Nigeria’s Crude Oil Affreightment Trade Terms From FOB to CIF pointed out that the Changing landscape of Nigeria’s maritime sector viz-a-viz its security architecture, capacity and other determinants has necessitated the Change now than ever before.
Dakuku stated further that the CIF if implemented will “encourage indigenous fleet expansion, lead to massive job creation for qualified Nigerian Seafarers, create opportunities for mandatory sea time experience for Nigerian cadets and build expertise and competence in international shipping trade”
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