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Tag: NNPCL

  • Why we can’t break NNPCL monopoly on petrol import, by marketers

    Why we can’t break NNPCL monopoly on petrol import, by marketers

    Lack of access to foreign exchange (forex) and price control have forced independent marketers to abandon initial attempts at importation of petrol

    The inability of the marketers to source and distribute petrol without recourse to the national oil company, has again seen the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) emerging as the sole importer and source of petrol nationwide.

    Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday lamented that the forex situation and the structural imbalance in the pricing regime were frustrating their full participation in the downstream oil sector, contrary to the ideals of full deregulation.

    Three major marketers had, upon the removal of petrol subsidy and adoption of a free-market economy for the downstream sector by the new government, launched into private importation of petrol in July.

    IPMAN’s National Vice President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria Abubakar Maigandi, said the marketers abandoned the petrol importation business due to lack of access to foreign exchange at the banks.

    He alleged that NNPCL depots have refused to sell petrol to independent marketers, noting that the rate at which the marketers were loading the product from the depots has reduced.

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    Maigandi said: “I don’t know about major marketers not having petrol in their depots. The only thing I know is that the rate of loading has reduced. The way we used to load there is now reducing. From the loading point, NNPCL refused to give us allocation. They have reduced the way they had been given allocation to marketers.

    “Up till now, only NNPCL can come with the PMS, marketers cannot buy the PMS because of the price and foreign exchange.

    “Most of the marketers are not getting the foreign exchange from the banks. So everybody relies on the product that NNPCL imports and shares to the marketers.”

    On the ex-depot price, he said except in NNPCL depots, the price has been increased.

    He pointed out that NIPCO has been selling at N585 instead of N557 per litre.

    “NNPCL is still selling at the same N567 rate in Lagos but they will not allow marketers to buy. NNPCL has left the price unchanged at N567 per litre,” Maigandi said.

    Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Corporate Communications, General Manager, Mr. Kimchi Apollo did not respond request for comments on the situation.

  • ‘NNPCL not wasting money on pipeline surveillance contract’

    ‘NNPCL not wasting money on pipeline surveillance contract’

    A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Chekwas Okorie, has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) did not waste money on the contract for the protection of its pipelines.

    The contract, awarded to a company belonging to former militant leader in the Niger Delta region, Chief Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), Tantita Security Services Limited, has been generating controversies among various parties and stakeholders in the petroleum and other sectors.

    Okorie, who spoke with our correspondent in Enugu, noted that if the NNPCL was not getting adequate returns from the huge investment, it would have since taken a drastic action to cancel the contract.

    The APGA chief said those criticising the company or its owners over the size of the contract sum had not properly taken note of the job the company had been doing since it was awarded the contract.

    He said it was through the operations of the company that the public knowledge that pipes were being laid far into the sea from where vessels were picking up stolen crude oil and exporting elsewhere.

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    Okorie said: “It is the NNPC, a limited liability company now, that awarded that contract. I believe they know what the whole country was losing before that they entered into that contract. The figure did not just fall from the sky. There are certain issues they must have considered.

    “It is not the kind of contract that required budgetary allocation from the National Assembly. It is a company contract that was given to somebody to help it fight revenue loss through crude oil theft.

    “So, it is the company that will decide whether they have made the right decision or not. If they are not getting adequate returns from that huge investment, I am sure there is also in the contract clause, like in any other contract, to cancel it.

    “If they cancel it while the firm is still doing their job without being found wanting, there would also be penalty for breach of contract.

    “So, people just sit back to make comments without taking time to ask what it is that the company has been doing since it was awarded this contract.

    “What is the content of the contract as well as the process of cancelling it, if you have to, and the penalty that would come as a result of the abrupt cancellation of the contract on the part of the NNPCL? Would it be worth going into?

    “These are the issues any honest and dispassionate person wanting to criticise any part of a business a public company has gone into should be able to avail himself with before just saying ‘cancel, one man cannot take it’.

    “You can call it one man business, but as far as the contract is concerned, it is between NNPCL and another company. That Tompolo is the chief executive officer of the company does not really matter much.

    “There are even companies owned by Nigerians and non-Nigerians that are executing contracts that are way above that amount of money given to Tompolo. Whether it is in dollar or naira, they are there…”

  • NNPCL not wasting funds on Tompolo’s pipeline surveillance contract – Ex-APGA chair Okorie

    NNPCL not wasting funds on Tompolo’s pipeline surveillance contract – Ex-APGA chair Okorie

    A former national chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chekwas Okorie has said that the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) did not waste money on the pipeline surveillance contract awarded to ex-militant leader, Ekpemupolo Government, popularly known as Tompolo

    It was gathered that the contract has generated hues and cries among some Nigerians.

    Okorie, who spoke to our correspondent in Enugu, said if the NNPCL was not getting adequate returns from the huge investment, it would have since taken a drastic action to cancel it long ago.

    He said those criticising the company or its owners over the size of the contract sum had not properly taken note of the job the company had been doing since it was awarded the contract.

    According to him, it was courtesy of the operations of the company that it became public knowledge that pipes were being laid far into the sea from where vessels were picking up stolen crude oil and exporting elsewhere.

    He said: “It is the NNPC, a limited liability company now, that awarded that contract. I believe they know what the whole country was losing before that they entered into that contract. The figure did not just fall from the sky. There are certain issues they must have considered. It is not the kind of contract that required budgetary allocation from the national assembly. It is a company contract that was given to somebody to help it fight revenue loss through crude oil theft.

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    “So, it is the company that will decide whether they have made the right decision or not. If they are not getting adequate returns from that huge investment, I am sure there is also in the contract, clause, like in any other contract, to cancel it. So, if they cancel it while the firm is still doing their job without being found wanting, there will also be penalty for breach of contract.

    “So, people just sit back to make comments without taking time to ask what it is that the company has been doing since it was awarded this contract. And what is the content of the contract as well as the process of cancelling it if you have to; and the penalty that would come as a result of the abrupt cancellation of the contract on the part of the NNPCL. Will it be what is worth going into? These are the issues any honest and dispassionate person wanting to criticize any parts business any public company has gone into should be able to avail himself with before just saying ‘cancel, one man cannot take it’.

    “You can call it one man. But as far as the contract is concerned, it is between NNPCL and another company. That Tompolo is the chief executive officer of the company does not really matter much.

    “There are even companies owned by Nigerians and non-Nigerians that are executing contracts that are way above than that amount of money given to Tompolo. Whether it is in dollar or naira, they are there.

    Okorie noted: “I’m not close to their operations. But, from what I have read in the papers, some of the things they discovered just few weeks after they started operations, which people never knew that those kind of things are there. Or, it was not in the public knowledge that pipes were being laid far into the sea from where vessels were picking up stolen crude oil and exporting elsewhere.

    “I know that in this kind of thing, there will be so much envy. People believe there were all in the creek and militants and therefore it should be some kind of national cake. But, he made his proposal and it was accepted. Let them think out their own proposal and see how they can market it and not envying someone else’s.

    “I’m not also saying that government or public institutions should throw away money. I don’t think NNPC can do that. It is a company that has many shareholders. It is not only government-owned now. Government is a majority shareholder. There are other shareholders and it is for the board to take a look at it.

    “All these while people have been campaigning and some people have been criticizing, those who awarded the contract have not said a word, meaning that they are satisfied with the job done and that those who criticizing the business they entered into are wasting their time.”