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Tag: Kachikwu

  • Oil reform will provide jobs, says Kachikwu

    The Federal Government will end corruption and improve the economy to create jobs, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has said. The minister said efforts were being made by the government to ensure that the refineries are working.

    He spoke at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) penultimate Thursday while delivering the institution’s 45th convocation lecture titled: The petroleum industry and the future of Nigerian nation.

    He said the refineries would be revamped to make petroleum products surplus, noting that efforts were being made to repair damaged pipelines supplying crude oil to the refineries.

    The objective of President Muhmmadu Buhari’s reforms in the oil and gas industry, he said, was centred on having the right people at the helm of affairs.

    Kachikwu said: “With the right people in petroleum sector, there will be increase in revenue for the country through sales of crude oil and petroleum products. The products will be at affordable price and government will ensure lowest prices. The reforms will provide employment opportunities for Nigerians.”

    The minister said there was no accountability and openness in the management of the petroleum industry in the past 25 years, a situation, Kachikwu said, led to the declining capacity of the refinery. He said President Buhari had ensured transparency and openness by his directive to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to publish its monthly report.

    He urged people to support Buhari in his fight against corruption in all sector of the economy, saying the effort would restore sanity back to the government.

    Kachikwu, a UNN alumnus, hailed management for maintaining the academic tradition of the institution, noting that the school contributed to his career as a professional.

    The Vice-Chancellor (VC), Prof Benjamin Ozumba, described Kachikwu as “thoroughbred expert”, noting that his choice as lecturer was informed by his track record in oil and gas industry.

    The highpoint of the event was presentation of gift to Kachikwu in appreciation of his contributions in the university and his commitment to reform the oil sector.

  • Kachikwu confirms OLEF 2016 participation

    Kachikwu confirms OLEF 2016 participation

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu,  has confirmed his participation as the Guest of Honour and Host Minister at the Silver Jubilee and 25th edition of Annual Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (OLEF) next week, at the PTDF Towers Auditorium in Abuja.

    The Secretary-General of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Abdallah El-Badri and  Nigeria’s Senate President Bukola  Saraki are expected as Special Guests of Honour.

    According to the Chairman, SPE Nigeria Council, Mr. George C. Kalu, this year’s edition will bring together experienced exploration and production (E&P) industry experts who will provide insights on advances in Nigeria’s oil and gas activities aimed at mitigating the effect of low oil prices and how these wil chart the right course towards sustainable future for the industry.

    Other confirmed top E&P executives to speak at the event include Managing Director, First E&P Development Company, Mr. Ademola Adeyemi-Bero; Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Modecai Baba-Ladan; Managing Director, SNEPCO, Mr. Bayo Ojulari; Managing Director, ExxonMobil Nigeria, Mr. Nolan O’Neal; Group Executive Director, E&P NNPC, Dr. Maikanti K. Baru; and Chairman, PETAN and Managing Director, Oildata Inc., Mr. Emeka Ene.

    The Oloibiri Annual Lecture Series focuses on contributing to oil and gas policies development for Nigeria in commemoration of the first oil well drilled in 1956 in Nigeria by Shell D’Arcy at Oloibiri, Ogbia, Bayelsa State.

    It is a platform that attracts participants from the government, regulatory agencies, heads of industry practitioners at all levels, as well as other key stakeholders from around Africa.

    The Energy Forum, which runs concurrently with the annual lecture, seeks to educate stakeholders handling energy issues in the nation’s financial and allied industries, for  public  benefit and  to  provide  opportunities  for  professionals  to  enhance  their technical  and professional  competence.

  • Why oil revenue is poor, by Kachikwu

    Why oil revenue is poor, by Kachikwu

    Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu said yesterday that poor governance and weakness in the fiscal administration of the oil sector led to inadequate allocation, mismanagement, ”Dutch disease” and collection of oil and gas revenues for the government.

    He spoke at the Universiy of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) while delivering the 45th convocation lecture of the university titled: Oil Resource Management and Implications for National Security and Economic Survival.

    He said continuous rise in expenditure when oil revenue was high led to  accumulation of large public sector debt. He noted that in previous years, little attempt was made to diversify oil and gas resource income.

    Kachikwu said: “For so long, this country has made so much and lost so much to the extent that everybody is uncertain whether oil is a blessing or a curse.”

    He gave  assurance of his commitment to move the petroleum industry forward saying  that with the recent development and technological  innovation in United Stataes,  Nigeria’s reserve will last for between 20 and 25 years.

  • OPEC members now keen to end oil glut, says Kachikwu

    OPEC members now keen to end oil glut, says Kachikwu

    The mood inside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is shifting from mistrust to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to end the global oil price rout, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu has said.

    Oil prices have slumped by more than 70 per cent to near $30 a barrel over the past 18 months as OPEC, led by top producer Saudi Arabia, sought to drive higher-cost producers out of the market by refusing to cut production despite a supply glut.

    The price crash has crippled some economies that depend heavily on oil sales for income, such as Nigeria and Venezuela, and even Saudi Arabia is shoring up its resources to withstand the painful revenue drop.

    “There’s increased conversation going on. I think when we met in December … they (OPEC members) were hardly talking to one another. Everyone was protecting their own positional logic,” Nigerian oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachiwku told Reuters in an interview.

    “Now I think you have cross-logic … they are looking at what are the deficiencies, what is the optimum.”

    Struggling oil producers have made repeated calls for an emergency OPEC meeting, but Kachikwu said that the timing had not been right. The cartel’s next regular meeting is in June.

    “We haven’t been sure that if we held those (emergency) meetings that we could actually walk away with some consensus,” Kachikwu said.

    “A lot of barrels are tumbling out of the market from non-OPEC members, so the Saudi philosophy is obviously working. But it’s not influencing the price higher, which means that whether we like it or not some barrels are coming in from … members and non-members to cover whatever is dropping out.”

    The International Energy Agency said on Jan. 19 that oil markets could be oversupplied by as much as 1.5 million barrels per day in the first half of 2016 and warned that prices could decline further as Iran’s emergence from economic sanctions brings more crude to the market.

    OPEC has declined to trim output without help from non-members, which so far have refused to participate. Russia, the world’s biggest oil producer, has played coy by floating the idea of a cut without saying whether it would participate.

    In an attempt to find a compromise, Venezuela’s oil minister recently proposed a freeze on new production to place a cap on the growing glut while not requiring countries to surrender market share.

    Kachikwu said that he would meet his Qatari and Saudi counterparts next week to discuss the situation.

    “Have we got to the point where we can say there is a definite strategy? In terms of production reduction or freezing, no, I don’t think we have got there. But there is a lot of energy (behind the idea),” Kachikwu said.

    “As you get closer to the statutory (OPEC) meeting dates … you are going to see a lot more people get active in those conversations and try to find solutions.”

  • Why Kachikwu must dare the oil cabals

    It is usually tough explaining the intricacies of the business and politics of oil to everyday folks. For instance, people outside some major cities still have to buy petrol above the N87 belt announced by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu. The expectation had been that the years of maladministration in the sector will miraculously revert to perfection on account that a new minister is in charge. Those who hold such views do so without reckoning with the cabals that can only be dismantled over the course of time.

    It is however obvious that machineries and strategies being put in place by the minister are beginning to yield results towards freeing the nation from these oil cabals and bringing normalcy to the oil industry. But these people behind the nightmarish scenarios Nigerians had lived through over the past one decade are not ready to go down without a fight. The dubious ways of doing business preferred by them bankroll their private jets, yachts, exotic getaways and out-of-this-world lifestyles with spoilt mistresses and toy boys.  It does not matter that they get these things at the expense of our own tears and blood.

    Prior to the coming of Kachikwu to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the oil cabals ran riot all over the place. They decide whether we get fuel or not. They decided the price at which we buy outside of Abuja and Lagos. They decide how long we spend on fuel queues. In addition to these holds they have on our daily lives, the cabal make us pay the interest for the bank loans they took for business, we paid for demurrage on imported products and also for when they stored products at tank farms – all these after they have collected subsidies and continue to hold the federal government to ransom over the same subsidy.

    Kachikwu’s coming burst their bubble. We are exiting the subsidy regime without the apocalyptic outcome they had always paid people to chorus around.  Unlike in the past when they were able to browbeat the system, the Minister of State for Petroleum took the wind out of their sails with the concept of price modulation. Consequently, Nigerians have for the first time in a long while live through almost a month without the spectre of subsidy payment hanging over them. Prospecting in petroleum products by hoarders no longer hold promises of high return on investment as there is no more incentive for panic buying.

    The stability, in part, can be attributed to the fact that the nation’s refineries, which were once described as mothball, are back to contributing products to meeting part of the daily national demand. These were the same facilities that were earlier unable to refine products despite the several billions of naira spent on Turn Around Maintenance, TAM. From the assurances the minister has given to Nigerians, it is only a matter of time before these refineries are able to scale up their daily output and further reduce the nation’s dependency on imported petrol and diesel – the largest leverage of the rent-seeking subsidy predators. This will have implication for not just the consumers but also for the economy since the pressure of sourcing dollars to finance imported products contributed to wiping out the value of the naira. Our currency will thus be able to make significant recovery once Kachikwu’s reforms in the oil sector take further hold.

    In the private sector, the confidence engendered by Kachikwu’s approach to managing the oil sector has seen the private refineries being built by the Dagote Group making progress. The opacity in the running of the NNPC and the oil sector in general had once been an obstacle for investors with interest in building refineries. Within the shortest time, however, it is glaring that the new refinery project is picking speed, which could also be on account of the reassurances that can only come from a competent and focused leadership.

    It could be described as unfortunate that Kachikwu came on board at a time when crude looks like it is headed for the $20 mark down from over $105 just a few months ago. What is to be commended is the way he has been able to manage the affairs of the sector in such a way that there is no panic that could have stampeded the industry into destruction. He recently told Bloomberg TV that Nigeria will still make profit even if oil were to trade at $20 since the production amount is less than that. Such optimism, openness and transparency was not the case in the past. What would have happened was for members of the cabal to cash in on the situation and further loot the country blind citing global falling prices.

    Another first for Kachikwu was the firmness with which he has addressed the other franchise of the cabals, saboteurs that vandalise pipelines to steal petrol and other products. These economic criminals had in the past had a free reign as they enrich themselves by destroying national infrastructure to steal products. Such was their reign in the past that they kill security operatives and government officials and tend to get away with it. Their activities have been linked to the huge cost of transporting products and some instances of fuel scarcity. The approach to this clear brigandage in the past was to treat the vandals, collaborators and accessories with kids’ gloves – there was that government’s indifference to the fact that vandals and host communities for the facilities were in cahoots. There is no way they can operate freely if the host communities do not give them cover or refuse to alert security and other relevant agencies of crimes in progress.

    The warning from Kachikwu to indigenes of Tarkwa Bay, where the Atlas Cove Jetty is located, that their place was at risk of possible acquisition by the Federal Government if they continued to shield pipeline vandals and oil thieves, will certainly achieve something. This is the one approach that was never considered in the past while Nigeria hemorrhaged to thieves. Apparently, there would be no need to repeat this warning to other host communities.

    It will be naïve to think that these steps being taken, to the extent that they disrupt the cabals and their minions, would go unchallenged. This is why it would not be surprising to any discerning mind that attempts have started in earnest to drag Kachikwu’s name in the mud. The cabals will update and modify their strategies to retain their stranglehold on the oil sector at all cost. Kachikwu must accept this as a reality such that he must never succumb to the blackmail of this band of cut-throats. In addition to the popular mandate that President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti corruption fights enjoys, the Minister of State for Petroleum has the support of citizens to cage these cabals and send them out of business. The tremendous support and goodwill that trail his stand on subsidy is enough indication that he enjoys such support.

    Kachikwu must dare the cabals some more. He should run them out of town. Nigerians support him.

    • Lady Odoma, JP, contributed this piece from Abuja.
  • Kachikwu, UAE minister meet on investment

    Kachikwu, UAE minister meet on investment

    Minister of State Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu last night met with Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Finance to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries, ways to expand cooperation and establish investment partnerships in Nigeria.

    The minister is a member of the delegation led by President Muhammadu Buhari which arrived the Arabian country last night at the start of a three-day visit.

    During last night’s meeting which took place at the Court of Dubai Ruler, Sheikh Hamdan stressed that the leaders and government of the UAE take keen interest in strengthening relations and friendship with the world, in particular with African countries with which the UAE maintains historic trade and economic relations.

    Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, Director-General of the Court of Dubai Ruler, and Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) and attended the meeting.

  • NNPC to establish more mega stations, says Kachikwu

    NNPC to establish more mega stations, says Kachikwu

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu yesterday said  the Federal Government was working out modalities for the  Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to establish more mega petrol stations.

    He spoke at a news conference in Abuja.

    Asked to confirm whether the corporation was planning to build 800 mega petrol stations, the minister who did not give the exact figure of stations, said: “Definitely,  there are many fillings stations we were trying to develop working with the governors in terms of land, local government areas. The idea is to be able to expand our wings in crisis period. Some of that is going to come with Joint Ventures with some filling stations, which are willing to do JVs with us and so the 800 are not going to be built anew.”

    He warned petrol marketers selling petrol above the official pump prices to revert to the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) prices.

    The minister cautioned marketers, who were manipulating pump prices, saying: “I have asked DPR to oil  up their enforcement machine because they are not doing it as much as I want it to happen.  And we are going to have security agencies if any filling station is found to be selling products above the pump price. We are going to seal those stations. We are going to sell the products for free. We will seal the stations and we are not going to reopen them until three months.”

    Kachikwu, who is also the group managing director of the NNPC, admitted that the Federal Government had been lacking in the implementation of official petrol prices compliance in the hinterland, vowing that government would intensify the compulsory compliance with pump prices in rural areas.

    He said government needed to do more since consumers in the rural areas, who are relatively poor are mostly affected by high pump price.

    The minister said:  “I agree that we have not done enough in terms of hinterland protection. And I believe we need to do more because the frequency of these practices are more in the hinterland. And unfortunately those are the ones who even lack the resources  to pay that kind of prices so we need to do more work.

    According to him, following the engagement of private security firms, the NNPC recovered pipelines that were abandoned for many years.

    “We are working to see how we can bring up pipelines back into the system between now and before early February,” he said.

    The minister assigned the Managing Director, Product Pipeline Marketing Company, Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue to look into how kerosene was allocated to ensure that it is available, especially in NNPC filling stations .

    Commenting on the capacity of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the Director, Mordecai Ladan, said there were over 30,000 filling stations and DPR had about 300 workers to monitor them.

    “But all the same, we are going electronic in the  monitoring of supply and distribution. Emphasis is on electronic tracking for supply to the stations. From today, DPR workers will get cracking and ensure the N86.50 in the independent and major stations are enforced.”

    He said DPR would also monitor and enforce inspection on NNPC stations still shortchanging customers.

     

     

  • US opts to buy Nigeria’s crude, says Kachikwu

    US opts to buy Nigeria’s crude, says Kachikwu

    Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachukwu has raised Nigerians’ hope about the dwindling oil revenue, with the news that the United States will now buy some crude from Nigeria.

    “Post the President’s visit, there has been an overture from them to say they want to buy limited quantity of Nigerian oil to support the market. We are still ongoing on that,” he said.

    Kachikwu allayed fears over the return of the U.S. to oil export, stressing that the country’s sale of oil does not foreclose its tendency to buy crude at the same time.

    According to him, the volume of oil that the US intends to do is little and it is for her internal consumption.

    Kachikwu, who spoke with reporters at the Kaduna airport after his inspection of the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) in Kaduna State, said the U.S. is still importing oil to build up her reserves.

    He said: “The fact of U.S. being back into the sales  market obviously  what you find is that  the volume of export U.S. intends to do is very minimal for a lot of internal consumption.

    “And strategically they are still reaching out to buy certain barrels and, in fact, they are hoping to buy a couple of Nigerian barrels. So the strategic reserve is key for them to make a very strong strategic reserve. They have also produced more than they have never done in their history now .

    “From the financial point of view they sometimes sell and still buy, and they do that with gold, they do that with cotton, they do it with a lot of commodities.  The whole idea is that if oil prices are cheaper, they buy, and use that to fill  their reserves.”

    According to Kachikwu, the United States has never completely exited the importation of Nigeria’s crude since three major oil companies – Cheveron, Exxonmobil and one other  – still take their 40% share to their refineries.

    What the United States stopped was her importation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) share of the crude, the minister said.

    Kachikwu, who is also the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the NNPC said the two countries were discussing the purchase of the corporation’s share of Nigeria’s crude.

    He said: “Three of the oil companies are U.S. At least I can say Exxonmobil , I can say Cheveron, but you realise that 40% of their production goes into the U.S., so when you hear zero importation of Nigerian oil it is not really stopped . It is not  true because they take their shares to their refineries.

    “What we are talking about is the NNPC portion of the crude which is 60% and that is the element we are talking about – whether or not they will continue to buy.”

    Analysing the nature of the Nigeria/US oil market relations, the minister said: “ You also know that they are diversifying to the Shale in terms of the sale of products. Now you take 900,000 from a million barrels, out of that 455 is local intervention. So what you are talking of is about 450, 000 barrels. It is not enough in terms of the NNPC portion.”

    Asked what the Ministry of Petroleum Resources was doing to ensure that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) is better equipped to monitor oil production in view of the impression that the DPR has no knowledge of the volume of oil that the International Oil Companies (IOCs) produce at the well head, the minister said it was false.

    He insisted that the DPR could ascertain the level of production, stressing that it was the inspection that brought about the volume of production that the Federal Government used for its budget.

    Kachikwu said: “That is not true. I think the DPR knows the quantity of oil we produce. We do know the volume of oil we produce and that is the number we use for budgeting. I can tell you, for example, we are doing 1.89million barrels per day. I can tell you we are targeting 2.2million barrels per day next year. There are measurement indexes for that.”

    The minister said it takes an average of three to five years to build a new refinery at $2billion to $2.5billion which is too huge for government to afford.

    “ It takes investment of $2billion  and $2.5billion and those are not monies that we can afford,” he said, adding: “What we are encouraging people to do is to unbundle refineries that are all over the world, which are for economic reasons being de-assembled and bring them here and set them up and run them”.

    This, said Kachikwu, would prune the cost of refineries for investors, especially when they are sharing the same premises, the same power source, because power is a key element of that cost.

    He maintained that adoption of this method of construction of a fairly used refinery could be take about 18 months to build and reduce the cost to below one billion dollar and bring about quicker return on investment.

     

  • Fed Govt to decide on petrol price in Jan., says Kachikwu

    Fed Govt to decide on petrol price in Jan., says Kachikwu

    Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Emmanuel Ibe-Kachukwu yesterday made some clarifications about the Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF), otherwise known as petrol subsidy.

    He said that there was no subsidy in the price  of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

    Kachikwu, who is also the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), spoke  to reporters after inspecting the Kaduna Refining  and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) in Kaduna.

    His clarification on the subsidy regime became necessary following stakeholders’ request, such as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) that he provides an explanation with regards to reports that the government has deregulated the downstream petroleum sector and removed petrol subsidy.

    Asked to say categorically whether subsidy has been removed or not since there is no provision for it in next year’s budget, the minister said: “Today, there is no subsidy; we are selling products at N87. In January, we will look at what the trend is, we will announce prices. If that is less than N87, we will announce it and if it is more than that, we will have to announce it. “

    According to him, what really matters is not availability of subsidy in the budget, but the consideration of the large amount of money the government spends on subsidy.

    Despite the huge fund, Kachikwu said no one had been able to account for it due to the corruption in the  management of the fund.

    He said : “I don’t want to get caught into this subsidy or no subsidy; money provided in the budget or not.

    “I think what is critical is two-fold: one is that the amount that we spent in the past on providing what you might call monetary subsidy is huge, we have never been able to account for it and the amount of corruption there nobody has been able to account.”

    The minister noted that Nigerians were expending too much energy discussing if the government should continue to fund the funding gap called subsidy, which runs into N1 trillion.

    He said he believed that Nigerians were of the same frame of mind with him that the country needs to exit the subsidy regime.

    His words: “First, let me say that we are expending too much energy on semantics. There are two critical issues here; one is, should the Federal Government continue to fund the gap that we see, this huge one trillion naira, and I think everybody is on the same page that as much as it is we need to get out of it.”

    “Where we have a disagreement is if we get out of it, should we sell products at certain price or should you let free markets to roll in so that you can skyrocket prices?”

    Kachikwu recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had said that the price of petrol should remain N87 per litre for now, approved that the government should review the market and make the necessary adjustment in line with the dictates of the market.

    The minister said: “The President is very emphatic on this; he says, for now, he expects that products should be about N87. He has also given approval for us to be able to look at market trends and make adjustments as need be. So, when you keep asking me if subsidy has been removed, I ask what is subsidy?.

    “At today’s price, there is no subsidy and that is why I have gone away from the use of the word ‘subsidy’ and have continuously said that I am more on the page of price modulation. How do we look to fluctuate the market to reflect market dynamics.”

    Kachikwu, disclosing that the government will continue to modulate prices of domestic petrol supplies to avert unwholesome profiteering by marketers, said towards the end of January 2016, he expected that Nigeria would be able to locally source up to 10 million litres of her domestic petrol consumption from four of her refineries in Warri; Port Harcourt and Kaduna.

    He, however, said that through the price modulation mechanism, the government would continue to monitor price to keep it within a specified band.

    “Happy to have Kaduna back, looking forward to have Port Harcourt back. Warri is still a bit far gone but all in all, the more refineries we can bring on board, the better for the situation we have ourselves in.”

    Speaking on the volume of products he expects that the refineries would add to the country’s local consumption, Kachikwu said although the country would still import products next year, it would however get up to 10 million litres of petrol from the refineries, starting from the end of January when repairs would have been completed on them.

    “Kaduna is doing about 1.5 million litres; hopefully, it will be getting into 2 million very quickly, once the FCC is working. Port Harcourt, when it comes back with a combination of VDU and the FCC, we will probably be looking at about 5 million litres.

    “Ideally, we want to be able to get to about 10 million type capacity out of the about 40 that we say is the national consumption per day; that is the trend,” he said.

    He added: “If all things were equal, I think the max cap for Kaduna will be in the 2 to 3 million range, Port Harcourt will probably be 5 and 6 million and Warri, if it comes, will be another 3 or 4 million. So, Warri is projected to come back between early and mid-January and I will say that by the end of January if all things were working and we do not have any other complications arising from these aging plants, we will expect to see 10 million litres.”

  • Kachikwu directs petrol supply for Christmas, New Year

    Kachikwu directs petrol supply for Christmas, New Year

    •PPMC injects additional volume of fuel

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Group Managing Director Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has directed the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to embark on renewed special supply intervention measures to ensure availability of petroleum products ahead of the Yuletide and beyond.

    The NNPC, in a statement, said the special supply intervention mechanism, which entails the ramping up of additional supply via massive truck-out to guarantee product penetration to the nooks and crannies of the country started over the weekend.

    The corporation stated that daily fuel truck out to locations such as Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu, Ibadan and Jos have been increased significantly to enhance free flow of products across the country.

    The NNPC stated that it was consolidating its strategic alliance with some major depot owners and oil marketers with strong regional logistics outlay in those areas to ensure maximum infiltration of products, especially in the hinterland ahead of the Christmas and New Year festivities.

    Calling on the public to refrain from hoarding, product diversion and panic buying of petrol, the corporation noted that the intervention measure would help circumvent the challenges posed by the unavailability of pipelines for the transportation of petroleum products.