FOLLOWING the decision of the Federal Government to deliver 1,120 trucks of fuel (approximately 36million litres of fuel) in the country, the government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has collaborated with the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) to ensure even distribution of the product.
The National Chairman, Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) unit at NUPENG, Comrade Akanni Oladiti, dropped this hint during a chat with The Nation in Lagos at the weekend.
He said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, initiated the partnership, by inviting the leadership of PTD for a meeting in Abuja on the issue two weeks ago.
He said the meeting discussed modalities on how to distribute fuel in the country, while at the same time, proffering solution to bottlenecks hindering fuel supply nationwide.
Oladiti said: “The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Kachikwu, invited representatives of tanker drivers for meeting recently. Grey areas in the fuel supply chains were identified and we advised the Federal Government on the need to make fuel available in the country. Other issues include timely collection of fuel from depots and making tanker drivers to supply fuel to dealers as at when due. We assured the minister on the readiness of tanker drivers to work weekends and public holidays, provided fuel is available.”
The PTD chief said his union also promised to train drivers on how to drive safely, guarantee the safety of their trucks before taking fuel from the depots and prevent fire disasters, among others.
“Our efforts have paid off, as the PTD has started training its members. About 3,000 drivers are going to be trained nationwide. The country has been divided into four zones namely Lagos, Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna. While about 1,000 drivers would be trained in Lagos, Ibadan and Ilorin; Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna would train the remaining 2,000 drivers.”
Tag: NNPC
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NNPC, NUPENG partner on fuel supply
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NNPC, NUPENG partner on fuel supply
Following the decision of the Federal Government to deliver 1,120 trucks of fuel (approximately 36million litres of fuel) in the country, the government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has collaborated with the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) to ensure even distribution of the product.
The National Chairman, Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) unit at NUPENG, Comrade Akanni Oladiti, dropped this hint during a chat with The Nation in Lagos at the weekend.
He said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, initiated the partnership, by inviting the leadership of PTD for a meeting in Abuja on the issue two weeks ago.
He said the meeting discussed modalities on how to distribute fuel in the country, while at the same time, proffering solution to bottlenecks hindering fuel supply nationwide.
Oladiti said: “The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Kachikwu, invited representatives of tanker drivers for meeting recently. Grey areas in the fuel supply chains were identified and we advised the Federal Government on the need to make fuel available in the country. Other issues include timely collection of fuel from depots and making tanker drivers to supply fuel to dealers as at when due. We assured the minister on the readiness of tanker drivers to work weekends and public holidays, provided fuel is available.”
The PTD chief said his union also promised to train drivers on how to drive safely, guarantee the safety of their trucks before taking fuel from the depots and prevent fire disasters, among others.
“Our efforts have paid off, as the PTD has started training its members. About 3,000 drivers are going to be trained nationwide. The country has been divided into four zones namely Lagos, Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna. While about 1,000 drivers would be trained in Lagos, Ibadan and Ilorin; Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna would train the remaining 2,000 drivers.”
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FG needs $700m to upgrade refineries – Kachikwu
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said on Saturday that the Federal Government needed 700 million dollars to upgrade its refineries to produce at maximum capacities.
Kachikwu, who is also the Group Managing Director of NNPC, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen during the re-inauguration of the Port Harcourt/Bonny Crude Supply Line at the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Eleme, Rivers.
He said that due to the fact that the nation did not have such amount, advertisements had been signed for investors to come in.
According to him, we are not inviting foreign partners to take over the refineries; the total investment for that is up to $700 million and we don’t have that. Let us be honest about it.
”So, the best thing to do is to find a very creative way to bring in investors, who will come in, work with our team here;
‘’Investors, who have the skills to reactivate and upgrade facilities in this place and help us provide technical support and we will pay through the flow-out of the refined products over time,” he said.
Kachikwu emphasised that there should be no confusion about what the investors would be coming to do, since they would not come to run the refinery.
”They are coming to provide funds to take our performance on these refineries to 90 percent and to provide us with technical skills.
”So, the areas of intervention will be funding and technical support,” he said.
Kachikwu said that at present, Nigerians were consuming about 45 million litres of PMS daily, while the refineries were producing 12 million litres daily as they were working at 60 per cent capacity.
He said that the nation will need to upgrade these refineries and let them develop to the point where they can perform up to 90 per cent.
He said that by the time the refineries were upgraded and they start producing at 90 per cent, about 20 million litres would be produced daily.
The minister said that with such production, it would only meet up with about half of the country’s consumption.
Kachikwu, however, apologised to Nigerians for their suffering due to the fuel scarcity and also thanked Nigerians for their patience.
He explained that the government had been able to recover the two critical crude supply pipelines; which were Escravos/Warri and Bonny/Port Harcourt crude supply pipelines.
Kachikwu said that the pipelines were down for six to seven years but had been repaired and were working and supplying crude to the refineries.
”For the first time, the refineries will get their crude, pay for it, they will sell their products and they will earn the income from that product.
”And then, they can develop and continue to maintain the refineries even after this intervention is over.
”Port Harcourt is back in production, Warri is back in production; Kaduna today is receiving and will soon be back in production. It is something of joy,” he said.
Kachikwu said, ”Lagos is easing off now from fuel scarcity and Abuja is doing the same thing; once Kaduna begins to produce, the North will see a lot of improvement.
”Over and above that, we are putting long term policies in place to ensure that while smaller marketers go out and do their stuff, we can then be the key suppliers for the rest of the country.”
He commended the workers and the contractors for a job well done; adding that he has signed the promotion letters of the PHRC staff as they deserved to be rewarded.
Kachikwu, however, said there is a lot still to be done, ”I told you I will never give up.
‘We owe Nigerians the duty to ensure that the refineries are working. We owe Nigerians that, we can’t give up,” he said.
The minister urged Nigerians to remain resilience, “support what the government is doing because this is the only way to change the system.”
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Refineries: NUPENG warns NNPC over partnership with investors
The Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) not to engage investors as joint technical partners for the rehabilitation and running of refineries.
The NNPC has advertised for the job.
The union said it is also worried by similar adverts by the NNPC inviting pre-qualification for rehabilitation, upgrade, operatorship, management and maintenance of NNPC jetties, storage depots and pipeline infrastructure on joint venture partnership.
In a statement by its Acting General Secretary, Comrade Joseph Ogbebor, NUPENG described the NNPC’s move as privatisation of national assets through the backdoor.
According to Ogbebor, it is doomed to fail and bring more hardship to the citizens like the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
Ogbebor, NUPENG would fight the joint partnership bid for security reasons and in the interest of oil and gas workers.
No investor, he said, would want his money in the JV without having a say in the running of the refineries, storage depots and jetties.
“NUPENG states that the panacea to these challenges is not in joint partnership basis that will alter the ownership and operatorship structure, but the need to have the political will to make the refineries, pipelines, and storage depots work optimally,” the union said.
The bidders, it said, would turn out to be those interested in buying the national assets adding that their planned sale through this method is a failure on the part of the NNPC management.
“It also negates Federal Government’s plan to set-up a special task force to tackle pipeline vandalism and encourage investors to build refineries within the old refineries and use their facilities.
“NUPENG calls on President Buhari to call the Minster of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to order and rescind the decision and concentrate on re-streaming the refineries, rehabilitate the depots instead of this new plan of partial privatisation through the backdoor that will result to job losses. This may lead the union to embark on a nationwide action,” Ogbebor said.
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NNPC owes over $300m in taxes, says FIRS
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is owing over $300 million in tax arrears, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler, has said.
Fowler, while speaking yesterday before the Hon. Michael Enyong Okon headed Adhoc Committee Investigating the FIRS’ accounting procedure, said the computation of the outstanding was done by the NNPC itself.
On NNPC’s non-compliance with the issue of tax return, he said all unresolved matters will be sorted out at the conclusion of the ongoing audit exercise, adding that the FIRS should have a proper assessment at the end of the audit of the NNPC in June.
He said: “On the taxable profits of companies, (under NNPC), I cannot give any specific information regarding the amount until the audit report for last year is ready for assessment.”
He however said the Corporation has promised to get back to the Agency with a plan on how to defray the outstanding, stating that the self-assessment by companies as done by the NNPC was not final.
“We are also deploying a system where all outstanding taxes owed by companies are recalled using automated platform. Right now, many companies, on the basis of that are doing self-assessment and have promised to remit all outstanding Value Added Tax (VAT) owed.
“One of the key things we did to ramp-up the revenue base when I was in Lagos, was to do a comprehensive audit, and I believe if we apply the same method, we will achieve the same result and even more. I know that those I met on ground did their best to enhance the process and we are currently building on what they put on ground,” he said.
Fowler said Nigeria is part of countries losing about $250 billion through evasion/ underpayment of taxes, adding that there is need for a sensitive and pro-active tax collection and management regime.
“We tend to believe that companies, especially multinationals would declare their figures properly, but organisations that deal with tax have estimated that well over $250 billion is lost every year in tax revenue from companies that file low revenues as returns.
“So, I think we just have to change our approach and assume that everyone is guilty until proven innocent when it comes to the issue of tax,” he stressed.
On their part, the lawmakers insisted in knowing why the FIRS withheld part of the N7.5 billion tax refunds meant for some companies that had been overtaxed. The agency had requested for the funds from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), received it, but some of the affected companies alleged that they never got it.
The Committe chair wondered why the FIRS would receive the amount only to deprive some of the firms that have legitimate claims on the refund.
Responding, Fowler said in the case of tax refund, the N7.5billion released on19th December, 2014, from the Committee’s investigation, revealed that some of the said approved cases were not implemented as monies received, were not paid to all those who were listed in the request, adding that certain criteria were used for consideration and payment in order to avoid paying an undeserving companies.
He however promised to look into the matter, with the assurance that such an incident would not occur again.
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TUC to Buhari: relinquish minister of petroleum position
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) Tuesday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to relinquish the position of Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources because the office is too critical to the economy to be combined with the office of the President and Commander-In -Chief.
According to the congress, the perfect candidate for the job should be someone who has the necessary knowledge, experience and competence that would directly supervise the affairs of the ministry and report to the president.
TUC however noted that although the position of the Minister of State for Petroleum and Mineral Resources should remain as a junior minister in the ministry, a different Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should also be appointed to directly supervise the affairs of the NNPC.
Its President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, made this call at the “Save Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Round Table Conference in Abuja.
He said: “There is cogent need for appointment of a substantive Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. The ideal candidate for this should be someone who has the necessary knowledge, experience and competence, and who would directly oversee the affairs of the ministry and report regularly to the President.
“That position is too critically important to the economy to be subsumed as one of the many offices or portfolios of the President and Commander-in-Chief. Of course the position of Minister of State for Petroleum and Mineral Resources should continue to exist as a junior minister in the ministry. A separate Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should also be appointed to directly supervise the affairs of the NNPC.”
The TUC boss added that all the appointees must be persons of bold, incorruptible and sound principles.
Kaigama pointed out that the cabals in the sector emerged due to corruption in the corporation.
He stressed that “it is high time we halt the ugly trend whereby members of the cabal are paid billions of naira for ‘fuel imports’ that never reach our shores.”In his address, the President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said that Nigeria is the worst case scenario in the management of oil and gas wealth in the world.
He told a story of his colleague in Ghana that revealed that his country is guarding against the Nigerian experience in her fledging oil sector.
The labour leader noted that the problem in the oil and gas industry is not lack of law but adherence to the laws.
He advised Nigerians to oppose anyone that flout the law, adding that he refused to pay N200 per liter for the petrol he bought in a station in Kaduna State two weeks ago because the pump price is N86 per litre.
Chairman of the occasion, Ambassador Paddy Njoku in his address said that for government to achieve the aims of the Nigerian Content Monitoring Board Act , it is vital to continually collaborate with industry stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of the act.
He sought the passage of the pending Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law in order to strengthen the progress that the board has made.
In his presentation, Dr. Louis Brown Ogbeifun, submitted that “it is better to have a not too perfect PIB that could be reviewed in the next few years than allow the status quo to remain as it has been these last 16 years.
“Stakeholders should close ranks as the death of the oil and gas industry shall have ripple effects on the state of the Nigerian economy as we still run a monolithic economic system.”
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NNPC’s tawdry tale
•If marketers are hoarding or diverting fuel, what is the DPR doing?
Last week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) sought to explain why long queues of motorists have not disappeared from filling stations, particularly in Abuja and its environs. NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Garba Deen Mohammed, told newsmen that Abuja, which ordinarily requires about 180 trucks daily is being supplied 244 trucks in the past few days. Wondering where the 64 additional trucks went, he noted that the scarcity has not abated only because some marketers have embarked on sharp practices of product diversion and hoarding.
To start with, Nigerians are only too familiar with such statistics being thrown in their faces – statistics that they have come to take with a pinch of salt. Unlike the NNPC which prefers, like the ostrich, to bury its head in the sand, Nigerians surely understand that the supply situation is still a long way from what is required to turn things around. For Nigerians who have endured the agony of not having fuel to buy in the past few weeks, the observable rush to fill up their tanks would ordinarily seem understandable.
Now, even if we accept NNPC’s statistics and by extension its claims that an average of 64 trucks meant for Abuja and its environs are being diverted, the question is – what did the corporation do about what amounted to a sabotage of its efforts? While those trucks were loaded, whose responsibility was it to track them from the depots to their intended destinations? Is that not the role of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)? Does it not amount to self-indictment that NNPC and DPR could not put in place a mechanism to track products lifted by the marketers?
Just in case both the NNPC and the DPR do not know, their corporate dereliction has grave implications both for the economy and the orderly conduct of players in the industry. Needless to state that the hoarding and diversion which these give rise to constitute a challenge to law enforcement.
This should not be hard to understand. Under the existing arrangement, the Petroleum Products Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) sets the marketers’ margin as published in its price template. The margins, far from arbitrary, are accepted by the industry as fair, competitive and in accord with best practices.
As for the nefarious trade, this is how it works: products lifted at the depots are sold on the depot tarmac either with active collusion between DPR and NNPC officials, or with the officials looking the other way. The products are subsequently taken and sold at premium either at the black market or at filling stations owned by independent marketers. The marketers, free from the challenge of regulation, exploit the acute scarcity to inflict their greed and misery on the buying public. And while the price hits the roof, the NNPC whines about hoarding and product diversion!
Of course, it goes that while the scarcity may have created the huge incentive to hoard and hence the desire by marketers to make illicit gains, the reason it has persisted is because both the NNPC and the DPR are active collaborators. The two agencies are therefore, as complicit.
Far from being impressed by NNPC’s rationalisation therefore, Nigerians expect the corporation to focus on bridging the supply gaps to ameliorate the hardships posed by the current scarcity while also purging itself of the corrupt and unpatriotic elements within its ranks. The DPR on its part needs to wake up to its responsibilities of ensuring that actors play by the rules and to punish those who run foul of the law. By and large, we expect the NNPC to foster an atmosphere of free flow of products to ensure that Nigerians are not again put through avoidable hardships.
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NNPC staff abducted by gunmen
A staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), identified as Yusuf Abdulkadir has been reportedly abducted by unknown gunmen in Kaduna.
Abdulkadir, who is a staff in the NNPC Abuja office was said to have been abducted on Saturday at his residence in Rigachiku, Igabi local government area of Kaduna State.
It was gathered that the incident occurred at about 10pm on Saturday when he was whisked away to an unknown destination.
According to a family source, the gunmen trailed him while he was returning to his house and picked him up.
”They trailed him to the house yesterday dragged him out of his car at gun point and whisked him away.
”He works at NNPC Towers, Abuja, but on weekends, drives to Kaduna, where his family members reside,” the source added.
The matter has been reported to police but efforts to reach the Kaduna Police Public Relations Officer, Zubairu Abubakar on the development proved abortive as his phone was switched off as at the time of filing this report.
Three clergymen, Dr Emmanuel Dziggau, Yakubu Talba Dzarma and Iliya Anto who eventually died in his abductors’ custody, were kidnapped on March 21 while another Colonel Samaila Inusa was abducted and killed on 26th of March, 2016, in the state. -
Stop panic buying of petrol, NNPC urges
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday enjoined petrol consumers not to engage in panic buying because the Corporation has enough supply to go round the country.
Its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Malam Garba Deen Muhammad assured that the current petrol shortage would soon be over noting that the problem has been largely resolved in Lagos and the queues in Abuja are reducing by the day.
Panic buying according to the statement is what is making motorists to converge in a particular filling stations thereby creating scarcity especially in Abuja.
He said over 200 trucks laden with petrol were supplied to Abuja and its environs yesterday adding that the trend will continue.
Muhammad gave the assurances that the corporation is doing everything possible to ensure supply and distribution of products is not disrupted in any way.
He appealed to motorists to be orderly while waiting to buy petrol and also urged marketers not to hoard the product.
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Reps to probe NNPC over N350b revenue loss
The House of Representatives is to investigate a N350billion revenue loss incurred by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) within eight months last year.
The Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), has also been mandated to audit oil and gas infrastructure in Nigeria to ascertain the status of the equipment and techniques.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Abubakar Amuda-Kannike (APC, Kwara), who regretted that oil spillages have led to health issues, including breathing problems and skin diseases for people in the affected areas.
Besides, a major reason for the spillages in Nigeria is that many of the country’s oil firms used obsolete and inadequate infrastructure to channel and distribute petroleum products in the country, he noted.
Amuda-Kannike said it should be of great concern to Nigerians the report of the Institute for Global Energy Research that the oil exploration equipment of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Nigeria was over 40 years old as against the permissible life span of 25 years.
In addition, he explained that a percentage analysis of causes of oil spills established by the same institute showed that corrosion of pipes and tankers accounted for 50 per cent of oil spills.
While sabotage accounts for 28 per cent, oil production operations account for 21 per cent and inadequate or non functional production equipment is put as one per cent, he added.
He said: “One is concerned that most of the government’s efforts to address these issues were curative rather than preventive, such as establishment of regulatory agencies like the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), all of which have resulted in addressing the effects while doing little to be proactive enough in preventing the causes of oil spillages.
He said: “As part of the strategy of reducing the adverse effects of the activities of the oil majors in Nigeria, old and obsolete infrastructure as well as old habits of doing things must give way to modern techniques and procedure.”
On the investigation of the N350billion loss, the House said 87 per cent of the loss was incurred by Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), the distribution arm of NNPC.
Sponsor of the motion, Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu), while justifying the need for the investigation said NNPC crude oil and products distribution pipeline network covers 5,120 kilometers, 21 distribution depots, 9 liquified petroleum gas (LPG) depots, pump stations/houses and other ancillary facilities.
He said the pipeline distribution network transports crude oil and refined products to and from the refineries, depots and jetties and as a national grid pipeline which transverses over 25 cities including Port Harcourt, Aba, Enugu, Makurdi, Warri, Benin, Auchi, Lokoja, Mosimi, Atlascove, Ejigbo, Ibadan, Ore, Abaji, Suleja, Kaduna, Kano, Gusau, Jos, Gombe, Yola, Maiduguri among others.
He lamented that non utilisation of the distribution pipelines led to transportation of products through roads, thus resulting in countless incidence of petrol tanker explosions in various parts of the country and heavy tolls on road network.