Nigerian state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) has announced that subsidiary NIDAS Shipping Services will resume crude shipping services after seven years of suspended operations.
The company said the re-entry of its shipping services subsidiary was in tandem with its ongoing efforts to rejuvenate some subsidiaries to increase revenues.
According to Ndu Ughamadu, head of public affairs division of NNPC, NIDAS has set up a chartering and operation desk in its UK office as a first step to regain its market position.
Ughamadu has confirmed reports about NIDAS recently chartering the 2005-built MR2 tanker Atlantica Bridge from Norway’s Atlantica Shipping for the transportation of jet fuel from the El Dekheila Port, Egypt to Nigeria for Duke Oil. Additionally, the company has also booked LR1 tanker Res Cogitans to transport gasoline from Europe to Nigeria.
Ughamadu said NIDAS would optimise the right of first refusal offer in the NNPC annual crude oil term and direct-sale-direct purchase (DSDP) agreements with off-takers as part of strategy to ensure effective participation in the entire supply value chain.
NIDAS has set long-term goal to own and operate a fleet to secure a significant market share in the global crude shipping market.
Incorporated in 2007 as a joint venture between NNPC and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, NIDAS is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the NNPC.
