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Tag: NNPC

  • PDP cautions FG on fuel price increase

    PDP cautions FG on fuel price increase

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday told the Federal Government to shelve any plan to increase the pump price of fuel of N145 per litre.

    National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said any increase in price now would not only be criminal but inhuman and completely unacceptable to Nigerians.

    The opposition party claimed that the Federal Government has not been telling Nigerians the truth about oil-related issues while using the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to bandy figures to deceive the people.

    It said:”Instead of putting more burden on the people, the APC Government should come out clear on sleazes in the oil sector under its watch, particularly the shady oil subsidy payouts and illegal lifting of N1.1 trillion worth of crude using unregistered companies.

    “Any increase in fuel pump price would be an indirect tax on Nigerians to fund APC interests and considering the pains Nigerians have suffered under this inept and unfeeling Government, this intended hike will be callous.

    “It is now clear to all that this APC- controlled government will never act in the interest of Nigerians. All the actions and policies of APC, in their close to three years in office, have been targeted against Nigerians and there are no signals that they will change.

    “We, therefore, urge Nigerians to reject this plot to raise the prices of petroleum products even as they gear towards using the next election to end the misrule of the APC.”

  • Petrol price remains N145 per litre – Kachikwu

    Petrol price remains N145 per litre – Kachikwu

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, on Friday in Abuja said petrol price remains N145 per litre, pleading that the issue should not be politicised.

    Kachikwu, who said this at a news conference, said President Muhammadu Buhari’s stand on the issue was clear, hence, the ministry was working hard to resolve future occurrence of fuel shortages.

    According to him, the essence of the ongoing meetings with stakeholders, which began few days ago, is to find mechanisms to ensure that fuel queues do not come back.

    “There are social media commentaries implying that when we met with the committee set up by the Senate President to review the causative factors of the fuel scarcity and find solutions, there was a statement credited to me that the price might be increased to N180.

    “No such statement was made; no such plan is intended. I needed to clarify this because sometimes some of these rumour mongering add to the difficulties NNPC had in terms of being able to control price speculation.

    “The president mandate on this issue is very specific: we are not increasing price from N145,’’ Kachikwu said.

    Read also: DPR seals 80 petrol stations in Delta

    He said issues being looked at include a “wetting’’ of all stations so that product is available at every time for Nigerians and how to deal with the problem of private marketers that pulled out from participation.

    “This is so that they can participate effectively in the supply of petroleum products in the country, all within the parameters of N145 per litre pump price.

    “I thought we should make this very clear. This is not a matter for speculation; anybody who does speculation on it is not being helpful to Nigerians.

    “They have already gone through a very difficult Christmas period. We are working night and day to try and find solutions. It is not a political issue; people should step out of that goal post.

    “We want to provide succour to Nigerians, we want to provide product at N145, that is the presidential mandate; that is the Federal Executive Council mandate; nobody is having a deliberation on that.

    “We are actually looking at steps for those who have breached these processes, what we can do to penalise them and also set very stiff penalties for those who go to sell above N145.

    “Going forward, after the recommendations, there will be very massive enforcement; very firm position on this issue; very firm tracking of product in this country.

    “Nobody deserves this sort of up and down in terms of product supply in this country.

    “I want to make that very clear, there is no discussed intended price increase issue; price is N145 per litre at the pump price; it remains that; nothing has changed; there is no mandate to increase that,’’ he stressed.

    Responding to another insinuation that marketers were free to fix petrol prices, he said there was no authorisation to modulate outside the N135 – N145 bracket.

    `This is not a multiple price-fixing environment where people can work outside the umbrella of what has been fixed. What we have approved was a modulation between N135 and N145 per litre.

    “I am aware that some stations, even as of this morning, sold at N143. The majority sold at N145. Some recalcitrant individuals sold above that and that is why the law needs to go after them.

    “Nobody is free to set price above that,’’ he said.

    On the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency ( PPPRA ) template that helps monitor importation into the country, Kachikwu said “the template has always been an issue.

    “This is because as prices change in the international market, some of this template become questionable.

    “As part of this committee’s work, we are also reviewing that template to see whether there are things we need to do to help us ensure that we can accommodate sales at the N145 per litre window.

    “That is also going to be looked at. PPPRA is working on that and it is heading a special committee on it’’.

    NAN

  • Petrol scarcity bites harder in Jigawa

    Petrol scarcity bites harder in Jigawa

    As petrol scarcity bites harder in Dutse, residents have urged the Federal Government to take decisive measures to restore normalcy in the supply of the product to the Jigawa capital.

    A correspondent who visited all the filling stations in Jigawa state capital, reported that only the NNPC Mega Station was dispensing petroleum products to long queues of vehicles.

    A cross section of the motorists on Friday noted that the scarcity was artificial, pointing accusing fingers at activities of economic saboteurs.

    A resident, Malam Abubakar Umar, said: “People, especially the poor, are exposed to difficulties in sourcing for the product due to its acute scarcity.

    “The Federal Government must adopt practical measures to check petrol scarcity; such measures are imperative to address this lingering problem once and for all.”

    Another resident, Malam Sani Muhammad, said that the exorbitant prices of petrol had exposed many people to unnecessary hardships and forced some to park their vehicles and alternated with commercial ones.

    Read also: Abuja residents spend Christmas in petrol queues

    Muhammad, who attributed the problem to diversion of the product and hike in its prices by some petroleum marketers, added “even the price of ordinary kola-nuts has now increased”.

    A civil servant, Malam Ahmad Balarabe, bemoaned the devastating effect of the scarcity on many residents in the state capital.

    “Look at the situation most of us find ourselves now; to fuel vehicles, to travel, to buy food stuff, in fact, to do everything now has become a problem.

    “Almost everything is affected by the present fuel scarcity across the country.

    “So the Federal government and other parties concerned should do everything possible within their powers to bring an end to this unnecessary hardship we are experiencing.

    “However, we know that the Federal Government is doing its best for Nigerians,” Balarabe said.

    As at Jan. 4, only the Dutse NNPC Mega Station was selling the commodity to consumers at the official pump price of N145 per litre.

    However, the product is sold for between N250 and N300 per litre at the black market.

    NAN

  • ICYMI: FG may increase petrol price to N180 per litre

    ICYMI: FG may increase petrol price to N180 per litre

     The Federal Government may increase the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol to a minimum price of N180 and above anytime soon.
    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu who dropped the hint in Abuja on Thursday, said the current price of N145 per litre can no longer be sustained.
    In a presentation he made to a joint committee on Petroleum (Downstream) of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Minister said the landing cost for petrol stood at N171 per litre.
    According to him, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been bearing the cost of N26 per litre, representing the difference between N171 and the current official price of N145 per litre.
    Insisting that independent marketers would not be able to import the product at the current foreign exchange rate, saying the marketers were able to sell for N145 per litre when the exchange rate was N285 per Dollar. The Naira presently exchanges for N365 per Dollar.
    “We now have to go back and find the solution to this problem in order to ease supply gaps and ensure availability of the product at all times,” the Minister said.
    Kachikwu, however, proffered three alternative solutions to pump price increase: getting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to introduce a modulated foreign exchange rate specifically for importers of the product; giving the marketers significant tax adjustments to enable them to absorb the high cost; and a plural pricing system whereby the NNPC would continue to sell at N145 through its numerous outlets while the marketers are allowed to fix their own price.
    The Minister identified causes of the last fuel scarcity to include diversion of products, logistic constraints, bottleneck associated with clearance, bad road network, insufficient product reserves, smuggling through land borders, supply gaps and enforcement challenges.
    He stated that the marketers stopped importing fuel since October 2017, as a result of their inability to access foreign exchange from the CBN, leaving only the NNPC to import the product, which has left a wide gap between demand and supply.
    Dr. Kachikwu lamented that the price of petrol rises with the rise in the price of crude oil in the international, stressing that in such instances, Nigeria spends more to import refined products. In effect, any rise in crude oil price increases the amount the country spends on the importation of fuel.
    To address the situation, the Minister canvassed the opening up of production lines, specifically the refineries, which he said, would address supply gaps that usually leads to incessant scarcity.
    “Rising prices in international market affecting domestic prices. What the country needs is to have the refineries working. It’s a shame that after 40 years, Nigeria cannot produce its domestic consumption.
    “It would take 18 months to address problems of scarcity, price stability and other issues relating to the supply of petroleum products. The pipelines should be concessioned to allow private participation.
    “There is huge infrastructure deficit in the system because the NNPC ought to be distributing products through their pipes but most of the pipes are damaged. The has necessitated the use of trucks to distribute the product across the country.
    “Most importantly, fixing the refineries should be the lasting solution. To discuss and address the issues, we have to seek approval from the President,” the Minister said.
    In his own submission at the hearing, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru said the last scarcity was caused by rumours of price increase in the media that led marketers into hoarding the product in anticipation of higher prices.
    Said he: “So there was a frenzy in the movement of products to the hinterland and diversion of products going to the hinterland in anticipation of the increase in price.
    “The NNPC, or the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Authority (PPPRA) had no mandate to increase pump price.”
    The GMD said that the strike action embarked upon by PENGASAN in December was partly responsible for the scarcity, saying issues raised by the association for going on strike had nothing to do with the NNPC.
    According to him, the strike triggered panic buying by members of the public leading to scarcity of the product. He added that although PENGASAN called off the strike on December 18, the damage had already been done.
    Baru identified other factors responsible for the last scarcity to be the higher price at which petrol is sold in neighbouring African countries, citing Cameroun where he said petrol sells for N300-N400 per litre.
    Stating that the NNPC has enough product to bridge supply gaps, Baru insisted the corporation has sufficient stock to go round even without importation.
    The GMD alleged that about 4500 distribution trucks failed to return to depots to complete their distribution formalities during the scarcity period, meaning that the trucks were diverted.
    “There was no supply gap because we have Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) agreement with 10 consortia involved. Three of them rejected their cargoes, which were reallocated to others.”
    The GMD also hinted that the refineries in Kaduna and Port Harcourt were being reactivated and restreamed and that they have been producing three million litres daily.
    Baru also cited disagreements among the various private operators in the sector as part of the problems that threw up the scarcity, adding that the marketers were busy trading allegations of sharp practices.
    He said: “For instance, IPMAN said MOMAN and DAPPMA were charging over N133.28/litre but when we asked them to provide evidence of overcharging, they could not provide any. If proven, NNPC would have withdrawn the licenses of the errant bodies.”
    The Executive Secretary of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mordecai Baba Ladan told the committee that at the outset of scarcity, the DPR rolled out its machinery across the country, with the directive from the Minister that defaulters be dealt with.
    “Almost every marketer/filling station across the country are defaulters. And if all defaulting filing stations were to be shut down, there may not be anyone left.
    “They horde, sell above official price and also divert products. But we have stepped up our monitoring process now that the NNPC is the sole importer but the corporation cannot do it alone.
    Virtually all the independent marketers that attended the hearing alleged multiple charges by the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), NIMASA and some state governments charging 3 kobo per litre wharf landing fee.
    The Executive Secretary of MOMAN, Mr. Obafemi Olawore said the N800 billion owed marketers by the Federal Government has made it difficult for them to obtain credit from the banks to import the product.
    He appealed to the government to give key players major roles in the importation business, saying that shutting down errant filling stations won’t solve the scarcity problem but rather aggravate it.
    Olawore called for total deregulation of the sector to allow more participants from the private sector.
    Curiously, however, the chairman of the joint committee, Senator Kabiru Marafa who had vowed to grill the Minister and the GMD over secret subsidy payment by the government.
    Briefing newsmen at the National Assembly on Friday, Marafa had raised questions on who pays the difference of the N26 in the landing cost of N171 against the pump price of N145.
    The lawmaker said there were indications that a subsidy of N26 was being paid on every litre of petrol sold in the country and wondered who has been paying the subsidy.
    Marafa had said, “If there is subsidy payment, then who approved it and how much has been paid out as the subsidy so far. If you want to provide the subsidy, it should come through the National Assembly but we have not received any request for subsidy payment from the Executive arm.”
    Stating that about N10 trillion has been paid out as the subsidy, Marafa had lamented that stakeholders in the Petroleum industry, particularly the NNPC, have not been transparent in the running of the sector.
    He said these were some of the issues the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Baru and others would be made to explain to Nigerians at the January 4 hearing.
    “We are going back to the same circle where only a few persons benefit from subsidy payment at the expense of the Nigerian people,” Senator Marafa had said.
    Other members of the joint committee are Senators Tayo Alasoadura, Mao Ohuanbunwa, Sabi Abdullahi, Foster Ogola, Yahaya Abdullahi, Rose Oko, Philip Aduda among others.
  • NNPC orders assessment of Escarvo-Lagos gas pipeline fire

    NNPC orders assessment of Escarvo-Lagos gas pipeline fire

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, has ordered an immediate assessment of the damage caused by a fire on the Escarvos to Lagos Pipeline (ELP), a natural gas pipeline which supplies gas from Escravos region of the Niger Delta area to Lagos.

    The pipeline also supplies gas to power plants in the South West, in addition to feeding the West Africa Gas Pipeline System.

    NNPC’s  Group General Manager,  Group Public Affairs Division,  Mr.  Ndu Ughamadu disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

    The incineration of the ELP, which was built in 1989, was suspected to have been caused by a bushfire January 2, 2018 at Abakila, in Ondo State.

    Also Read: We’ve tamed the monster of fuel scarcity – Baru 

    NNPC firemen were drafted to the scene and were able to contain the fire from the leak point of the pipeline incident. However, the fire could not be extinguished due to the high pressure of the line.

    To put off the fire, the line would require being isolated and depressurized, which might lead to a complete shutdown of the pipeline segment for repair works to be carried out.

    The exercise will affect gas supply to customers in Ondo, Ogun and Lagos State with a subsequent shutdown of the following power plants with a combined generating capacity of 1,143MW: Egbin, Lagos, Olorunshogo, PEL Olorunshogo, Ogun, Paras Power Plant, Ogun and Omotosho plant, Ondo State.

  • NNPC orders assessment of Escarvo-Lagos gas pipeline fire

    NNPC orders assessment of Escarvo-Lagos gas pipeline fire

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC ) Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, has ordered an immediate assessment of the damage caused by a fire on the Escarvos to Lagos Pipeline (ELP), a natural gas pipeline which supplies gas from Escravos region of the Niger Delta area to Lagos.

    The pipeline also supplies gas to power plants in the South West, in addition to feeding the West Africa Gas Pipeline System.
    NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu disclosed this in a statement yesterday.

    The incineration of the ELP, which was built in 1989, was suspected to have been caused by a bush fire January 2, 2018 at Abakila, in Ondo State.

    NNPC firemen were drafted to the scene and were able to contain the fire from the leak point of the pipeline incident. However, the fire could not be extinguished due to the high pressure of the line.

    To put off the fire, the line would require being isolated and depressurized, which might lead to a complete shutdown of the pipeline segment for repair works to be carried out.

    The exercise will affect gas supply to customers in Ondo, Ogun and Lagos State with subsequent shutdown of the following power plants with a combined generating capacity of 1,143MW: Egbin, Lagos, Olorunshogo, PEL Olorunshogo, Ogun, Paras Power Plant, Ogun and Omotosho plant, Ondo State.

  • Ex-commissioner lauds Buhari’s New Year address

    Ex-commissioner lauds Buhari’s New Year address

    The former Delta Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Mr Raymos Guanah, has said that the President Mohammadu Buhari’s New Year address gave hope to Nigerians.

    According to him, the president’s address has information on every sector of the country’s economy.

    Guanah, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Raymos Guanah Farms, gave this commendation in an interview on Tuesday in Asaba.

    “I want to particularly laud the plan to completely ban the importation of rice; this act will surely encourage and boost cultivation and consumption of rice in Nigeria,” he said.

    He called for the imposition of very strict sanctions on rice smugglers and that there should be a jail term without option of fine for a minimum of two years.

    Guanah also suggested that smuggled rice should be given to internally displaced persons and prisoners while the vehicles used in conveying the rice should be donated to security agencies.

    Read also: Sagay: Buhari’s critics over dead men’s appointment are Lilliputians

    He also said that any government official found guilty of involving in rice smuggling be dismissed from service.

    On the fuel crisis, he said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC ) should not be the sole importer of petroleum products into the country.

    Also, on road infrastructure, he said the Federal Government should complete the Ajaokuta/Alaja railway project, complete the East-West road and rehabilitate the Amukpe/Agbor/Uromie road.

    Guanah said that power generation and distribution should be improved to encourage Small and Medium Enterprises ( SMEs ) in the country.

    On security, he said that the Federal Government had done well in trying to contain the Boko-Haram insurgents, but added that “there is still much to be done’’.

    He urged the government to address the agitations by the Niger Delta militants as well as take steps to intensify entrepreneurship training for the youth to reduce the level of graduate unemployment.

    NAN

  • ‘NNPC distributed 1.3b litres in October’

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), distributed 1.352.86 billion  litres of white products across the country in October, 2017.

    Details of the transactions contained in the October 2017 edition of the Monthly NNPC Operations and Financial Report, also indicated that 252.83 billion cubic feet of gas was supplied in the country within the period.

    The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, who made this known in a statement yesterday, said the products were distributed through its Downstream subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC).

    A breakdown of the volume of white products injected into the system,  showed that the 1.352.86 billion litres of products sold and distributed by PPMC within the period are slightly higher than the 1.282.61 billion litres for September 2017.

    This comprised of 1.119.79 billion litres of petrol, 95.72 million litres of kerosene and 137.34 million litres of Diesel.  Total sale of white products for the period, October 2016 to October 2017, stood at 16.18 billion litres, petrol amounted to 14.11 billion litres and accounted for 87.22 per cent. Alsp, total special products for October 2017 was 114.49 million litres, comprising of 63.82 million litres of Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and other special products totaling 50.67 million litres.

    The report also indicated that within the same period, 1.512.02 billion litres of petrol was supplied to the country through the Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) arrangement, as against the 886.46million litres supplied in September 2017.

    It also noted that the petroleum products (petrol & kerosene only) production by the domestic refineries in October 2017 amounted to 204.31 million litres compared to 87.47 million litres in September 2017.

    was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.

    Gas flare rate was 9.59 per cent within the period i.e. 781.77 mmscfd compared with average Gas flare rate of 10.03 per cent i.e. 752.45 mmscfd for the period October 2016 to October 2017.

  • Senate blames fuel crisis on NNPC, marketers

    Senate blames fuel crisis on NNPC, marketers

    The Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream has blamed the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and marketers over short supply of the petroleum products in the country.

    The Committee Chairman, Senator Kabiru Marafa, spoke yesterday in Gusau during an oversight assignment in the state on fuel situation in the country.

    Marafa, who was accompanied by a member of the committee, Senator Abdullahi Danbaba, said the inspection was part of the assignment given to the committee by Senate President Bukola Saraki.

    “I have directed all members of this committee to go back to their constituencies to investigate the problem at the grassroots so that we take approximate measures to address the scarcity.

    “We visited NNPC zonal depot Gusau to find out the quantity of fuel supply to the depot and we noticed short supply of the commodity.

    “We are going to present our findings to the senate. It is very disturbing to see the suffering faced by people due to fuel scarcity in the country.

    “We question the NNPC over this issue because the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru said they had doubled the quantity of daily supply of the product, but it is not available to the public.

    “Another unfortunate thing is the attitude of our filling stations owners who sell this commodity to the public; they are involved in one or two malpractices.

    ”In fact out of the filling stations we visited only two have complied with the government directives in this regard,” he said.

    Marafa commended the state Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) field office in ensuring compliance at the filling stations.

    The senator urged the DPR to sanction filling stations involved in hoarding and selling above approved government price of N145 per litre.

  • NNPC in frantic bid to clear queues before New Year

    NNPC in frantic bid to clear queues before New Year

    • Increases supply to states

    Fuel supply to the 36 states by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been doubled in the last few days as part of the effort to restore normalcy to the petrol supply and distribution across the country.

    Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru said in Abuja that the organization has already cleared fuel queues in Abuja and Lagos with the commitment to increase truck-outs to other states.

    Baru, speaking during unscheduled visits to some filling stations in Abuja at the weekend, said NNPC had stepped up the number of truck-outs to 1,733 “as a minimum and we have sustained this for a week and there will be more than enough products for motorists in the weeks ahead.”

    “As far as truck out is concerned, we have more than doubled the number of trucks that are going out into the country,” spokesman for NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu quoted Baru as saying.

    “Yesterday, we loaded and distributed products from coastal and strategic inland depots like Jos. We loaded 1,733 trucks yesterday and the actual normal number of trucks we required to keep the country wet is about 700 but we have been doing 800 to 850 trucks before the petrol scarcity.”

    The NNPC helmsman said the Corporation would remain focused at ensuring that all the other state capitals are wet with petrol by today.

    Dr. Baru said that the petrol scarcity was self-inflicted following the sharp practices of some unscrupulous marketers who took to hoarding and diversion of the product.

    According to him, “We have maintained our position that this scarcity is self-inflicted by marketers. The NNPC has more than 30 day sufficiency of supply of petroleum products, especially PMS and at the current consumption rate of about 27 to 28million litres per day, we should be very comfortable until the end of January 2018 even if we don’t import a drop of petrol into this country.”

    He urged the marketers to listen to the voice of reason to avoid the long arm of the law catching up with them, adding that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have been mandated to invoke the law against any defaulting marketers.

    During Friday’s monitoring of petrol sale in Abuja, Baru handed over two motorists who were caught at the NNPC Super Mega Station, Kubwa, with 30 jerry cans in their car to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for prosecution.