The Nation Newspaper

Tag: IPMAN

  • Fuel hits N180 in Edo

    Price of Premium Motor Spirit also known as fuel has risen to N180 per litre at some filling stations owned by Independent Marketers in Benin City

    At the black market, fuel sold for N200 per litre and above.

    Fuel was sold at some NNPC mega filling station and some major marketers that were supplied fuel from Benin Depot of the NNPC sold fuel at the approved pump price.

    Fuel chart released at the Benin depot showed that about 800,000 liters of fuel were supplied to filling stations across the state.

    A manager at one of the fuel station where fuel was sold for N160 said they got the product at a price of N120 per litre.

    Prices of transport fares have however soared within Benin City and environs.

    Ring Road to Oluku that used to cost N70 now cost N100.

  • FG sanitizing NNPC, says IPMAN

    FG sanitizing NNPC, says IPMAN

    National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief Obasi Lawson, has said the moves to restructure the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the Federal Government will help in sanitising the petroleum sector.

    Lawson, who was on a two-day visit to the Calabar unit of IPMAN, said the introduction of any new policy was likely to attract opposition, which was why the oil workers embarked on strike.

    He said this when he led a delegation on courtesy visit to the Cross River State Attorney General, Mr. Joe Abang.

    The Economic Adviser to the national president of IPMAN, Mr Michael Udofia, described the problem of petrol scarcity in the country as systemic.

    “The problem of scarcity in Nigeria is systemic, and until this system issues we would still go back to the same level. Let us take for instance, we do not have any reason be importing petroleum products. Why are our refineries established in the 70s and 80s are not maintained. Why are we having these issues.

    “We have crude oil, we export that same crude oil, only to go back and import the refined product. It is a paradox. By moving out the crude oil, of course freight comes in, insurance comes in and the people that haulage this product to the different countries come in. That is a huge cost in itself. For you to go and bring these same products again, that is additional cost. So I think the time has come for us to do the right thing, because we don’t have any other country, outside Nigeria. Let us do the right thing and ensure our refineries work.

    “Two, if you feel we should import, then there is no need for the price ceiling. Sealing this price at N86.50, because what happens if a businessman brings in this product at the rate that is higher, for the mere fact that you have sealed the price, it is bound to throw up issues. So unseal it if you cannot refine it. Anybody that is able and capable to bring it, let him it in, and you find out that if you do so, with the fluctuation and almost near collapse of crude oil price internationally, the price can even come down to even below N86, because we are going to have efficiency in the system.”

    He expressed confidence the Federal Government was on top of the present situation and the problem would be addressed soon.

     

  • Why petrol queues are back, by IPMAN

    Why petrol queues are back, by IPMAN

    • NNPC warns depot owners against cheating

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers of Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday blamed fresh nationwide fuel scarcity on unavailability of petrol for the marketers to load from the petrol depots.

    Its Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Dankigari, who spoke to The Nation on telephone yesterday, added that members of the association have 8,000 tickets pending that it has not been able to load.

    He said over the past few weeks,  private depots owners have been selling petrol at a price higher than the official N77 per litre to marketers, lamenting that the depots have all goen dry.

    Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has warned depot owners against selling petrol above the approved ex-depot price of N77 per litre.

    In a statement, its Group General Manager, Group Public Afdairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe yesterday said the warning came against the backdrop of repeated complaints by marketers of sharp practices at the depots.

    The statement quoted the minister as warning that depot owners found to be involved in selling products above the approved ex-depot prices would be severely sanctioned.

    Dankigari blamed fuel scarcity on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that is responsible for the importation of 78 per cent of the product to the country.

    He said: “The issue is that even where we are loading, there is no product. We already have more than 8,000 tickets but we have not been able to load.

    “Even the private depots that used to sell the products at a higher rate no longer have the product to sell. So, that is the reason why you have been seeing those queues. The NNPC is only agency of government responsible for bringing the products into the country.”

    IPMAN had in the penultimate week raised the alarm over the imminence of another fresh round of fuel scarcity as private depot owners were selling petrol for N97 per litre to marketers. Last week, the association further cried out that the depot owners had increased the price to N102 instead of N77 per litre.

    This, according to Dakingari, posed a great barrier to the marketers who avoided purchasing a product for N102 per litre and selling  N86.50 per litre.

    Most petrol stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were yesterday shut, a situtaion that affected vehicular traffic in the city.

    Alegbe has assured of sufficient supply of petrol as it took delivery of four more cargoes of the product at the weekend to keep the country wet. The state-run oil firm said the deliveries which amount to about 180 million litres is part of a new arrangement by the corporation to have a cargo of PMS delivered daily as from March.

    “The NNPC has stepped up collaboration with the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and other downstream industry players to end the resurgence of fuel queues in some major cities across the country especially in Lagos and its environs,” Alegbe explained.

    The NNPC stated that it has secured the commitment of the leadership of MOMAN for effective collaboration in this regard and assured that the queues will disappear in few days time as supplies are ramped up across the country.

    “To achieve this, truck-out to filling stations in the Lagos area has been increased from the regular 245 to 295 trucks per day (9.7 million) while truck-out to fuel stations in Abuja from Suleja depot has been stepped up to 210 trucks per day (6.9million litres) from the regular supply of 160 trucks per day.

    “Similar increment in supply volume has been activated in the Port Harcourt, Calabar, Kano and Kaduna areas to ensure seamless availability of petroleum products across every nook and cranny of the country,” he said.

    While appealing for understanding and support from members of the public, the NNPC assured that it is doing everything possible to end the prevailing challenges experienced by motorists, commuters and the general public in accessing petrol.

    “Within the last 48 hours we have received six cargoes of petrol (270 million litres) and beginning from 1st March, 2016 we shall begin to receive one cargo of petrol every day (45 million litres),’’ NNPC assured.

    The NNPC also said Dr. Kachikwu has directed the full activation of an Intra-Ministerial Joint Monitoring Task Force made up of officials of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) to ensure and enforce compliance to laid down rules and regulations governing the supply and distribution of petroleum products.

  • IPMAN threatens to shut down operations in Enugu, Anambra

    IPMAN threatens to shut down operations in Enugu, Anambra

    The Enugu Zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) has threatened to shut down operations in Anambra and Enugu over alleged harassment by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

    Its Chairman, Chief Ikechukwu Nwankwo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka that the planned showdown was to protest the incessant harassment of the members by the officials of the DPR.

    The chairman accused NNPC officials of sabotage, saying they were in the habit of preventing marketers from procuring products at the approved depot prices.

    He called on the Federal Government to “probe, expose and punish the unpatriotic elements in the organisation.

    “We have been meeting on this issue of selling at the approved price; DPR officials have been going to our members with security agencies to harass them, charging them for one offence or the other.

    “Anambra and Enugu are the worst hit and we shutdown our stations for them this week so that they can service the people as they wish.

    “NNPC does not supply us products, so why will they send DPR to come and be chasing us around?

    “Let them sell to us at the normal N77 cost price, then they will not need to enforce anything,” he said.

    Nwankwo called on Anambra and Enugu state governments to liaise with the NNPC and ensure that the right quotas to the states were supplied as the residents were suffering.

    He also opined that if the depot in Enugu, which had broken down for more than 11 years, was repaired, it would reduce the pressure of supply to the zone.

    Efforts to reach Ms Ngozi Okoye, the Special Adviser to Governor Willie Obiano on Oil and Gas, were not successful as she was out of the office and calls to her phone were not picked.

    In his reaction, the Operations Manager at the Enugu office of the DPR, Mr Ahmed Gwaran, said the agency was aware of the threat.

    Gwaran said the DPR and the petroleum products distribution stakeholders in the zone comprising Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states had met to forestall the action which would have serious economic consequences on the lives of the people.

    He said, however, that the enforcement was a policy issue which would not be compromised, adding that the government price was sacrosanct and that the meeting would help to smoothen rough edges.

    The marketers have always sold above the current approved N86.50 pump price in Anambra as the product sells for between N120 and N130 per litre.

  • IPMAN kicks as private depots sell petrol for N102/litre

    IPMAN kicks as private depots sell petrol for N102/litre

    Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday raised a fresh alarm that private depot owners sold Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) for N102 per litre.

    Following the new price regime which the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) activated last month, depots were expected to sell the product to marketers at N77 per litre.

    Besides, all Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) affiliate petrol stations were supposed to sell petrol at N86 per litre, while independent marketers were expected to sell for N86.50 per litre.

    But IPMAN Vice Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Dankingari, who spoke on phone yesterday, said private depot owners are selling fuel for N102 per litre.

    According to him, members of the association simply refused to patronise them because of the obvious colossal losses they would incur.

    He lamented that this situation  compelled the marketers to resort to buying from the corporation, where the product is evidently over-subscribed.

    Dankingari, who revealed that his members had over 7,000 tickets pending with the NNPC for over three months now, lamented that his members had no petrol to sell.

    He said: “Up till now, independent marketers are not getting fuel. We have over 7,000 tickets under NNPC . Up till now, we haven’t loaded it for almost three months now. The private depots are even selling N102 per litre to marketers now.”

    He however noted that the situation had forced some  members that ventured to patronise the private depots to sell above the official pump price.

    He said:“Our members in the far north and south if the go to the depots there is always no fuel for them to buy. They have paid at NNPC where they are expected to get it for N77 but there is no order and if they go to private depots, it is N102.

    “If you sell it at N86.50 automatically you are going to lose a lot of money. That is the reason why some of our members are selling above government approved pump price. They are those  who buy from the private depots. Even now, I called one of the directors in NNPC, I told him about the situation and he said he is aware. “

  • IPMAN urges DSS to stop fuel price enforcement

    The Independent Petroleum Marketing Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has appealed to  Director of State Security (DSS) operation to leave fuel price for its Task Force on Petroleum Monitoring in Kogi State.

    The Federal Government directed that the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) be sold at N86.50 per litre.

    Leader of the IPMAN task force in the state, Mr. Nwozuzu Henscchenl, whose operatives with men from the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), moved  around fuel outlets across the state, said interference by some DSS officers hampered their work.

    The team sealed some petrol stations in Lokoja, the state capital, for selling fuel above the approved price.

    Other infractions by the filling stations, he said, include shortchanging of customers through adjustment of dispensing meters and selling at an average of N110 per litre.

    He said the taskforce’s operations, which lasted two days, led to the shutting of some petrol stations, including three in Lokoja. He alleged that he was inundated by calls from people claiming to be DSS operatives, requesting that they either release those arrested or reopen sealed outlets.

    Asked to identity those who called him, Henschenl said he did not know them. He however said when he called the DSS office in Lokoja, he was assured that none of their operatives would engage in any illegality.

    “The places we visited so far, what we saw on their meters is N86.50, but that is in disguise. Mostly, they use calculator and sell at N110; we have our exhibits. Not only that, most of them shortchange customers by dubiously adjusting their meters; when you buy say 10 litres, what you get could be nine litres.

    “We experienced a lot of interference. For example, when we embarked on night enforcement, a lot of the stations had closed, having gotten wind of our operations during the day. After a while, some came, saying they were officers from the DSS, and I had to soft-pedal to manage the situation,’’ Henschenl said.

    He said he had called the DSS headquarters in Abuja to ascertain their identity and complained about their nefarious activities in the state.

  • We are not for strike, says IPMAN

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Ni-geria (IPMAN) has refuted reports that the association will embark on strike. Some IPMAN members had  threatened that  the association would embark on a nationwide strike over perceived imbalance in the sharing and distribution of petroleum products to marketers.

    IPMAN National Operations Controller, Comrade Mike Osatuyi, in a statement debunked the strike threat. He said IPMAN has not given any ultimatum on nationwide strike.

    Osatuyi said the association learnt that some marketers who are not members of IPMAN are spreading the misleading information among the public. He said: “Our attention has been drawn to a media briefing by some marketers parading themselves as IPMAN members, calling for a nationwide strike over petroleum product sharing formula.

    “The national body did not plan any strike. We, the national body of the union is not planning to embark on any strike, because we don’t have any issues with the government whatsoever. I appeal to Nigerians and all independent marketers to go ahead with their normal businesses and avoid creating panic buying in the market.”

    He lauded the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the petroleum distribution formula, adding that IPMAN has not been in  anyway slighted in the present sharing and distribution formula. “Independent marketers were given the opportunity to buy products at government approved ex-depot price which enabled us sell at government’s approved pump price of N86.50 per litre.”

    Osatuyi praised NNPC over petrol intervention scheme given to marketers to augment distribution, urging government to make the product available to marketers.

    He commended the steps taken by President Muhammadu Buhari to reposition the NNPC for greater efficiency. He said the measures inspire hope and confidence in the future of the nation.

    He noted that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, is a renowned oil industry expert with the requisite global exposure, competence and integrity.

    He said it was important for all IPMAN members to showcase what government was doing about special intervention fuel supply to marketers, which came to their stations at no extra cost. The Federal Government, through NNPC/PPMC, should be lauded for these special schemes.

    “The only way to ensure total eradication of queues in the country is when this intervention of petrol supply is sustainable,” he said.

    Osatuyi urged NNPC/PPMC to ensure sustainability of supply so their members could sell at approved price of N86.50 per litre.

    A group that identified themselves as IPMAN members had issued a 14-day ultimatum to the NNPC to regularise the present formula or risk stoppage of operations.

  • IPMAN against unfair product sharing formula

    IPMAN against unfair product sharing formula

    The Independent Petroleum Markets Association (IPMAN) has threatened to stop operation if   the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refused to regularise the perceived imbalances in the sharing and distribution formula of petroleum to marketers.

    These were part of the resolutions reached at the end of  an IPMAN stakeholders meeting yesterday in port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    Addressing reporters  after the meeting, the Chairman, IPMAN Council of Elders, Dr Emmanuel Ihedigbo, decried that  IPMAN, which has about 85  per cent outlets, to service was been slighted in the allocation formula.

    He demanded that IPMAN should be given 60 per cent to meet up its service demands.

    Ihedigbo faulted the arrangement where petroleum products were allocated to private depots and sold to major marketed and mega stations.

    He urged the NNPC to designate, four tank farms in port Harcourt, one tank farm in  warri, two tank farms in Calabar and five in Lagos.

  • •••NNPC begins massive fuel trucking to marketers, says IPMAN

    •••NNPC begins massive fuel trucking to marketers, says IPMAN

    As part of its intervention measures to stem the scarcity of premium motor spirit (PMS) above government’s approved price, especially during yuletide, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has begun massive truck-out of PMS to members of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

    IPMAN’s National Operation Controller, Comrade Mike Osatuyi, told The Nation that NNPC started massive supply of petrol to their members since December 24 to address the lingering scarcity across the country. He said over 300 trucks of PMS were supplied by NNPC yesterday.

    Apart from NIPCO, Capital Oil and very few others, the NNPC previously doesn’t supply fuel to IPMAN retail outlets for lack of confidence and irregularities carried out in most of the stations, but to bring the current supply situation under control, the Corporation resumed fuel supply to them.

    Osatuyi stated that one of his filling stations, Nyce Petroleum, located in Akute, Ogun State, benefited from the intervention measure, and got two trucks of 40,000 litres and 36,000 litres, making a total of 76,000 litres.

    He said their members across the country benefitted from the intervention, adding it would go a long way to stop scarcity and selling of petrol above regulated pump price. He assured that his station and those of other members would not only sell at N87 per litre but will operate for 24 hours to ensure that motorists and commuters don’t suffer for lack of access to fuel.

    Osatuyi said: “We are here to showcase what the Federal Government is doing in terms of PMS intervention scheme. You can see that the government is bringing petrol to dealers to sell at official price of N87 per litre, and we are selling at N87. They brought two trucks which we are yet to pay for. This is unbelievable. We have never seen this before. I want NNPC/PPMC (Pipeline and Product Marketing Company) to continue and sustain it. We at IPMAN can assure the government that we will support them now that they have agreed to partner with us. We will not fail them. This is for the benefit of the masses, which the government of President Muhammadu Buhari stands for.

    “The product is sold at N87 here at NYCE filling station, but about 80 per cent of filling stations sell above N87. But with this intervention, the price of N87 per litre will be uniform across the country. The process has just started, we need to be patient and believe in government, and very soon the question of selling above the official price will not be there at all.

    “IPMAN members own and control about 84 per cent of the retail outlets in this country, so now the government is ready to work with us, we too are ready to work with them. If they give us the fuel, we sell it. NNPC can only supply 52 per cent of our national need. I understand and have confirmed that they have stepped up importation to bridge the gap. I believe they will sustain the intervention. If they sustain it, we are ready to sell to the public.”

    Osatuyi, however, noted that the ultimate thing for the government is to deregulate the downstream.  He said since former President Olusegun Obasanjo deregulated diesel about 14 years ago, nobody has heard anything about diesel scarcity. If petrol is deregulated, we will have various prices of marginal differences but fuel must be available.

  • IPMAN: Our N1b kerosene cash trapped in NNPC

    IPMAN: Our N1b kerosene cash trapped in NNPC

    Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPAN) yesterday said their over N1billion meant to lift kerosene has been trapped in the vaults of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    Its Western Zone Chair,  Alhaji Debo Ahmed told reporters in Ilorin, Kwara State capital shortly after the association’s zonal meeting that “the ticket we paid is in the Warri depot since about 19 months. We want NNPC to look into that. That is the crux of our meeting. We have appealed to the government; we are ready; we want to assist the government we want to assist NNPC.

    “The tickets were submitted to Warri.  Warri is supposed to have loaded us. Since Warri broke down, nothing has happened. But you can see we have minor kerosene in Lagos. If NNPC can probably transfer our tickets to Lagos, we can load these tickets. It has taken too long. A lot of us took the money from banks. The money is now tied down and nobody is helping us in that respect.”