The Nation Newspaper

Tag: petrol

  • Petrol to sell for N86 from Jan 1

    Petrol to sell for N86 from Jan 1

    MotoristS yesterday got a New Year present. Petrol is to sell for N86 per litre at Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) outlets.

    Others will sell at N86.50k as against the present N87 per litre.

    The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) said the prices would run from January 1 till March 31, under a revised pricing template.

    PPPRA Executive Secretary  Farouk Ahmed broke the news to reporters in Abuja.

    Within the new pricing template, the government approved two pump prices-one for NNPC retail outlets  and the other for retail outlets operated by private business concerns.

    Both open market prices indicate a N1 and 50k drop from the official pump price of N87 per litre, which will become obsolete on December 31 – tomorrow.

    Farouk said the announcement followed the approval of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, for the implementation of the revised template.

    The PPPRA has approved importation of three million metric tonnes of petrol in the first quarter of the year. The NNPC was granted 78 per cent of the total allocated volume for the period. The balance of 22 per cent will be supplied by other oil marketing companies.

    According to Farouk, a couple of elements that were affected by the price review include traders’ margin, which was revised downwards from N1.47 per litre to zero; lightering expenses (N4.07/litre to N2.00/litre) charges by the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), (N0.77/litre to N0.36/litre); jetty throughput charges, (N0.80/litre to N0.40/litre); storage charge (N3.00/litre to N1.50/litre); bridging fund (N5.85/litre to N4.00/litre) and ex-depot price (N77.66/litre to N77.00/litre).

    Other elements, such as retailers’ margin, were, however, reviewed upwards from N4.60/litre to N5.00/litre; transporters, from N2.99/litre to N3.05/litre; dealers’ margin, from N1.75/litre to N1.95/litre;

    “Accordingly, the ex-depot price of PMS shall be N77.00k per litre while the pump price shall be N86.50k per litre – in line with the prevailing market trend.

    “The key thing here is that with the revision, the open market price has come down slightly. The new pump price is N86.50k, down from N87 per litre, effective from January 1, 2016.

    “However, for NNPC import, because an element of the template which is the financing cost, is not captured in the NNPC template. Therefore, NNPC import is slightly lower. The NNPC price will be N86 per litre, meaning that if you go to NNPC retail stations, you should buy at N86 per litre and then N86.50k in other stations,” Ahmed said.

    The idea is to instill competition and stability in the downstream petroleum sector, he said.

    “Another important point is that this is not static as there will be a quarterly review of the price template. However, if there is a major shift, the minister may call for a review either upwards or downwards, depending on the market.

    “But for now, at least for the first quarter, this price remains for three months, from January to March,” he added.

    Ahmed noted that there was to be a pricing advisory committee made up of industry technocrats and which would sit down from time to time and advise the PPPRA on price movements.

    He added: “But the PPPRA will still sit down and do its work. The committee will advise it on any drastic movement in price.

    “The open market price is N86.29k. If you do the calculation, that means there is an element of over recovery and what we will do now is that we will go back to the marketers and bill them for the recovery.

    “With regards to NNPC, their arrival is N85.93k but they are selling at N86, so there will also be element of over recovery. However, we are comfortable with the numbers.”

    Speaking more on the review, Ahmed said: “In order to encourage investments in retail outlets, we slightly increased the provisions in the retailers, transporters, and dealers’ margins.

    “In terms of distribution margin, we have also revised down the bridging fund and increased the retailers, dealers and transporters’ margins.”

    On the Q1 import permit, Ahmed did not disclose the identity of marketers selected for the period but stated that the agency had considered three key factors in selecting them.

    These factors, he said, include retail outlets ownership; marketers’ performance in previous quarterly allocation; as well as the challenges in sourcing foreign exchange.

    He noted that in allowing the NNPC to import 78 per cent of the total allocated volume, the agency envisaged that the corporation would have little challenges in sourcing for foreign exchange while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would be able to comfortably take care of the foreign exchange demands of the other marketers who would import the remaining 22 per cent.

    “This measure is to guarantee uninterrupted fuel supply nationwide. Marketers are required to note that there shall be a mid-quarter review of performance where volumes of non-performing marketers, including the NNPC shall be withdrawn and reallocated to performing marketers,” Ahmed explained.

    He also stated that the NNPC had in previous allocations done up to 111 per cent in product importation to stabilise supply, adding that future allocations shall be based on 100 per cent performance in the Q1, 2016 allocation.

    Ahmed said the revised template was built a little bit above the earlier daily consumption rate of 40 million litres per day.

    He said the agency is currently verifying the October, November and December claims of marketers for subsidy, after which the Debt Management Office (DMO) would be notified for further action.

  • NUPENG: Petrol ‘ll soon be available

    NUPENG: Petrol ‘ll soon be available

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers yesterday said petrol would soon be available in filling stations across the country.

    The Southwest Chairman of the union, Mr Tokunbo Korodo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos there had been improvement on loading of petroleum at the depots in Lagos.

    He observed that Nigerians would appreciate the present regime if it could reduce the price of petroleum.

    NAN reports that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, had earlier said that a price modulation in petrol would begin by January 2016.

    Kachikwu disclosed this during his inspection of the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC) on Christmas day.

    The NUPENG chairman said that the government meant well for all and sundry, in spite of the few greedy that worked to frustrate genuine intentions.

  • Petrol will soon be available – NUPENG

    Petrol will soon be available – NUPENG

    The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) Workers on Monday says that petrol would soon be available in filling stations across the country.

    Mr. Tokunbo Korodo, the South-West Chairman of the union, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos there had been improvement on loading of petroleum at the depots in Lagos.

    He observed that Nigerians would appreciate the present regime if it could reduce the price of petroleum.

    NAN reports that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had earlier said that a price modulation in petrol would begin by January 2016.

    Kachikwu disclosed this during his inspection of the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC) on Christmas day.

    The NUPENG chairman said that the government meant well for all and sundry, in spite of the few greedy that worked to frustrate genuine intentions.

     

  • 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.”

  • Kaduna refinery supplies 3.2m litres of petrol

    Kaduna refinery supplies 3.2m litres of petrol

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday said the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) has started daily production of 3.2 million litres of petrol.

    Its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, in a statement, said hopefully, the long queues at fuel stations across the country would vanish soon.

    The statement  confirmed that the plant which commenced production over the weekend with an initial petrol yield of about 1.5 million litres has ramped up daily yield to 3.2 million litres.

    “The injection of this volume into the system will significantly impact ongoing special intervention efforts designed to bring relief to motorists across the country,” NNPC said.

    Meanwhile, less than 48 hours after the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, ordered NNPC workers to intervene in the monitoring of fuel distribution and retail at filling stations across the country, the initiative has started yielding positive results in Abuja and its environs.

  • 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.

  • Petrol may sell for less than N87 per litre, says NNPC

    Petrol may sell for less than N87 per litre, says NNPC

    .FG to release new template in first quarter

    …as Kaduna refinery begins production today

    Following the new template that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is working out with the the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, may sell for less thant N87 per litre next year.

    Addressing journalists on the new framework in Abuja yesterday, the corporation’s Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Bello Rabiu, said that as at Thursday, the cost of bringing one litre of petrol to the country was N65. The logistics for bringing it to the depot and to the filling stations, he said, is about N10.55. The distribution cost is N15.49 while the open market as at today is N91.52/litre.

    Continuing, Rabiu said: “Now, if you take away N87, which is regulated price, it means that subsidy is basically N4.85. If we are consuming 41 million litres, it means we are subsidizing N200 million a day.”

    He dropped the hint that the cost is now reducing naturally because the present importation cost of N65 was N71 about three years ago and with the review, a new template would indicate that there is no need for subsidy in Nigeria.

    In his analysis of how the Federal Government would reduce the cost of fuel importation, he said: “If we can look at this one that is N91.52 and we pray we can get about N15 off there, that will bring it down to a little more or less than N80. If we take off N10.50, we come down to N81. If we take it down to N7.52, we come down to N85.

    “So you can see that the price we have today, if we look at the template can come down, and many Nigerians will believe that there is no subsidy.”

    He added: “Looking at this cost of N91.52 per litre, you can see it is what has been in place since 2000 to 2002, which looks to have been over-inflated.”

    He said that government is now planning to optimize the cost of fuel for the benefit of the citizenry.

    The Group General Manager said: “So, looking at the template itself, another thing we are doing is how we can optimise that one.

    “As nature will have it, the market itself is reducing the cost because three years ago, this N65 cost of bringing to Lagos was actually about N71. Now it has come down to N65 and it will go down again.

    “So, if we actually optimise that template and reduce the template, that will reduce the total cost of import and there will be no subsidy in the country.”

    The Nation however learnt from one of those developing the new frame work for the management of the PMS subsidy that there are strong indications that the pump price may go for about N82 per litre.

    According to him, “the government has already seen the possibility of reducing the cost by an average of N10.”

    But Rabiu disclosed that the new Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) would release its new price template before the end of first quarter next year.

    According to him, there is zero budget for fuel subsidy in the 2016 budget plan because the new adjustment that will lower the cost of product importation will make subsidy unnecessary.

    He noted that there is no hope that the price of crude will rise in the next few years as Iran which had been on suspension will soon resume production.

    He said that since the country has not been consuming up to the acclaimed consumption level it means that the Federal Government has been paying much more than what it should pay for subsidy.

    “We are trying to ensure that we pay for only what the country consumes,” Rabiu submitted.

    The Managing Director, Petroleum Pipelines & Products Marketing Company (PPPMC) Limited, Mrs Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, dropped the hint that the “new price will be to the benefit of every Nigerian and there is no cause for alarm.”

    Saying that Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company will begin production today, she noted that the Atlas Cove and Mosimi pipelines are now functional while the PPMC is making efforts at operationalizing the line from Ibadan up to Ilorin.

    At the moment, she said, the Federal Government produces seven million litres of PMS from local refineries.

    The company’s boss said “the good news is that for the first time in the past 100 days, we have crude being pushed from Warri to Kaduna.

    “We also have Atlas Cove Mosimi line working. Kaduna is ready to start up. I am sure by tomorrow (Saturday), we will start production from our refinery in Kaduna.”

    She attributed the feat to the engagement of a private security guard company to carry out surveillance on the pipeline, adding that the partnership with the Department of State Security (DSS) has yielded positive results.

    Her words: “It now reduces the burden of trucking all the way from coastal town to the hinterland. We also have efforts being made not only to Mosimi but to Ibadan and Ilorin, and that will also reduce a lot of tension.

    “Why have we done that? We have brought in private security companies to guard our pipeline. Then, we had joint task-forces but we still had our lines being compromised.

    “The security outfit that manages the pipelines has recorded success and quite a number of the vandals have been handed over to the security agencies.

    “We also have collaboration with the DSS and this has also yielded great results.”

    She said that between now and the end of the month, there are 12 vessels of products coming in with at least 30,000 metric tonnes each, stressing that there will be a ‘queueless’ Yuletide in the country.

  • Petrol may sell for N97

    Petrol may sell for N97

    •Govt to spend money on capital projects

    Nigerians were yesterday told to prepare for some tough decisions next year.

    Petrol subsidy will go to save cash for capital projects. This will likely push up price from N87 a litre to the former N97.

    “Price of refined products today is N87. It was N97 before it was reduced and we really have to go back to that because we don’t really have the finance to remove it,” Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu said.

    “There are lots of safety barometer between the N87 and N97per litre regime between which government doesn’t not have to fund subsidy.

    “Yet the prices would be fairly close to what it used to be today. That is the first mechanism we are going to work,”Kachikwu told a joint meeting between the Senate and House of Representatives for the consideration of the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

    Minister of Budget and Planning Udoma Udo-Udoma spoke of strict measures which may lead to more austere conditions.

    He said: ”In preparing the MTEF, we seek a dramatic shift from spending on recurrent to spending on capital aspect of the budget.

    “It is going to be tighter for everybody. All non essential expenditure would be cut out. We will reduce the overheads by seven per cent.

    “We are beginning a journey of change and change has to start with the clarity of purpose of where we are going.”

    The minister added that ”challenging times need firm and robust response”. “This is what the MTEF represents”.

    He said: “It was also designed to create better governance; to turn things around and promote economic prosperity for the people”

    On sources of funding for the N6 trillion 2016 budget, Udoma said priority will be given to Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)

    He said: “We will also look at the accounts of agencies and sweep those surpluses that might not be on essential things that we want to focus on”

    The Minister informed the joint committee that “ultimately we must borrow N1.8 trillion to fund this budget apart from all those adjustments we are trying to make”

    Minister of Finance Mrs Kemi Adeosun said the country paid N1.8trn as personnel cost this year.

    She noted that there is a strategy to reduce it by N100billion next year.

    She said: “For instance,  we are already working with banks so that we can go cashless so that we could give debit cards to MDAs to procure items.

    “If they want to buy fuel for instance, their drivers would make use of the cards. We would be able to control the cards to know who and where the fuel was bought. We are really working hard to drive down overhead.

    “If we don’t attack our recurrent, the risk is that extra money goes into it and we will have nothing to show for it, this is a big risk that we cannot afford.

    On the borrowing, she said: “We are speaking with some of the lenders already. The money we will borrow will be capital tied, project tied.

    “ Much of the concessional money is project tied. Also most funds we are taking from the various EXIM banks is specifically tied to capital projects.

    On the projected  N1.5trn revenue for 2016, she said “We are just trying to be conservative. It is possible that we get much more but I think for the purposes of this budget its better to leave it at that.

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele, said: “The exchange rate is actually N260 per dollar at the parallel market but the official rate is N197 per dollar.

    “The CBN rate would revolve around a particular band which is N197. It could swing up to N197 or below. The truth is that, historically exchange rate for budget has never been based on the parallel market rate which as far as we are concerned is a shallow market because it controls about five per cent of the market.

    “The market is substantially dominated by speculators and rent seekers. In the last 12 to 15 months, we have seen a massive drop in commodity prices especially oil that significantly affected the country’s revenue.

    “That has placed some pressures on the reserves and that also resulted in the speculators and rent seekers in the market. What we did at that time when naira was N155 to a dollar, precisely late 2014, was to adjust the currency and move it from N155 to N197 to a dollar.

    “We have through that arrangement, depreciated the currency by about 22 per cent. “The objective is to make export cheaper to encourage it but unfortunately we don’t have export. Our export has dropped very drastically in the last 10 years.

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, said: “Since August, we have been exceeding two million daily production through stringent monitoring of our production by getting quick fixes to instances of pipelines breaking.

    “The internal projection for our system next year is in excess of 2.4m which is coming from enhanced and increased production from NPDC field. A lot of efficiency had really been applied in this regard.

    “NPDC will for instance be producing 300, 000 barrels on its own while other partners would process at least 2.2m barrels.

    “We would address issues of security and other impediments to the realisation of our target. We are looking at a collective and holistic handling of security issues between the NNPC and the oil majors, with us taking the lead.”

    On oil price benchmark of $38, he said,  ”The projection at OPEC was along the line of the fact that once we do not interfere in term of production cost, will lead to a southward movement in terms of pricing. “We expect an increase as from early January when we expect it to go up by $45 to $50 per barrel in spite of OPEC projection. We expect it to hit $70 per barrel in 2017.”

    On subsidy payment for 2015 he said, “The total subsidy figure for 2015 when taken along with the NNPC will be in excess of N1trn. We can get this specifics but the point is largely that it does not involve NNPC because the agency takes its, off-cuff. We will work towards taking those figures off our budget in 2016. They are critical issues.

    “The current pricing work we are doing had shown that there shouldn’t really be subsidy. The government doesn’t need to fund subsidy.

    “There is synergy around the removal of subsidy. Most Nigerians we talk to today, would say, that’s where to go.

    “I have since left the dictionary of subsidy by going to price modulation which is a bit more technical.

    “It is when that mechanism fails that we will begin to look at a total subsidy exit. We believe we could achieve that.”

    Executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler, assured that the Service “will increase revenue by over one trillion.”

    The FIRS boss added: “we are targeting two trillion from Value Added Tax (VAT).”

     

  • IPMAN urges members to sell petrol at N87

    IPMAN urges members to sell petrol at N87

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has urged its members to sell petrol at the official pump price of N87 per litre.

    IPMAN also advised its members to stop patronising private depot owners selling above official rate of N77.66 per litre.

    It urged the government to direct private depots to make the product available at the approved price.

    Its Western Zone Chairman, Alhaji Debo Ahmed who spoke to reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital yesterday on fuel scarcity, said his members should stop patronising depots that sell above regulated price.

    Said he: “IPMAN should stop patronising depots that sell above the government approved price. Fuel to those depots is from the government and it is subsidized. They should sell it to us at government controlled price. If they don’t, that means we too cannot sell at controlled price. So our members should not buy from depots that sell above government price of N77.66.

    “We really appreciate the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC)’s efforts in abating the fuel scarcity.

  • NNPC loses N50b petrol to thieves

    NNPC loses N50b petrol to thieves

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday said 531 million litres of petrol, valued at over N50 billion was lost to pipeline vandals between January and September.

    This occured at the problematic System 2B Pipeline network which stretches from the Atlas Cove in Lagos to Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

    In a presentation to the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, the Managing Director,  Pipelines and Product Marketing Company  (PPMC), Mrs. Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, said the losses accrued from the incessant hacking of the pipeline at the Arepo to Mosimi axis of the artery. This has made providing seamless flow of petroleum products to retail outlets more burdensome.

    Mrs. Nnamdi-Ogbue said that despite the challenge posed by the inavailability of the vital System 2B Pipeline network, the PPMC has continued to ensure that the country remains wet with petrol through massive truck-out from depots in Lagos, Oghara and recently Calabar.

    She said the spirited efforts made so far by the Corporation to entrench zero fuel queues across the country were being hampered by the activities of some unscrupulous marketers involved in hoarding, sharp practices and diversion of petroleum products for sale in black markets across the country.

    NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ohi Alegbe, who said this in a statement, quoted her as saying, “We view this as a distortion to the economy and we have invited the DSS and the EFCC to take action.”

    Earlier in his presentation, the Group Executive Director, Commercial and Investment, Dr. Babatunde Adeniran, told the Senate Committee that the fuel situation was exacerbated by the inability of oil marketers to meet their import allocation quota due to outstanding subsidy payments, thus creating a gap which PPMC has been working round the clock to bridge despite the extraneous challenges like hoarding and incessant pipeline hacking..

    Answering a question on the ways to ensure a lasting solution to fuel scarcity,  Dr. Jamila Shu’ara, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and leader of the delegation, stressed the need to build strategic reserve stock of petroleum products akin to the national grain reserves across the country.

    Senator Uche Ekwunife, Committee Chairman, while acknowledging the efforts made so far made by the NNPC to ensure unimpeded fuel supply,  gave the Ministry two weeks to ensure sanity in the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.