Nigeria was awash with news recently about the quantum leap in the quantity of fuel imports from Malta after revelations by Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

In 2023, Nigeria’s petroleum importation from Malta surged significantly to $2.08 billion, compared to zero between 2017 and 2022, and a mere $13.32 million in 2016.

Mele Kyari, the 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.

But a report by TheCable has now revealed the identity of one of the biggest importers via the tiny European country.

He is Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu, owner of Matrix Energy and member of the presidential economic coordination council (PECC).

However, Aliu strenuously denied any wrongdoing in his business practices and promised a full response.

‘SMALL PLAYER, BIG CONTRACTS’

In July 2024 alone, over 200,000 tonnes of petrol from Malta were discharged into the Matrix jetty in Warri, Delta state, according to an insider who shared confidential documents.

“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.

The insider said Aliu is 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 person familiar with the company’s operations said.

The crude allocations to Matrix are traded by Gulf Transport & Trading (GTT), a trading company registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the insider.

“Two of the three crude cargoes of the recently launched Utapate grade were allocated to GTT,” the source said.

“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 $150 million per year or N240 billion, at N1,600/$.”

On August 5, NNPC 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.

‘FROM RUSSIA TO NIGERIA VIA MALTA AND LOME’

Matrix — which has three old ships (Matrix Pride, Matrix Triumph, and Matrix S.ILU) — reportedly loads diesel products exported from Russia in Lome, Togo.

It is understood that the diesel from Russia 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.

On June 19, another 15,000 tonnes were transloaded into Matrix Pride and then discharged into the Obat Oil terminal on June 22.

According to TheCable, 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, according to checks.

“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,” the source said.

“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.