A severe shortage of petroleum products in Nigeria could shutdown the country’s cocoa industry, officials, traders and exporters said Monday. The nationwide shortage, now entering its fourth week, has affected the operations of commercial banks, telecommunication companies and the other key sectors of the economy. Commercial banks in Nigeria normally close at 4 pm local time, but a shortage of gasoline and diesel used to run generators is forcing them to shut earlier than normal. “If banks close down now, cocoa business is off,” Monday Awulu, a senior official at Saro Agro Allied Ltd., a major cocoa exporting company in Nigeria, told Dow Jones Newswires. He said the severe petrol shortage didn’t have a major impact on the movement of cocoa, “but if diesel becomes difficult then cocoa movement becomes difficult as most of the vehicles we use are diesel-powered.” […]