Fuel scarcity across Nigeria to reduce from next week

The petrol shortage witnessed across the country will ease from next week, officials said on Tuesday.

The Nigerian government also on Tuesday warned against trying to disrupt the petroleum supply and distribution chain.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, gave the warning in a statement issued by the senior adviser on media and communications, Horatius Egua.

In the statement he said the danger came on the heels of renewed effort by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to maintain 450.92 million liters of petrol evacuation every week to different filling stations across the country.

NNPCL, separately, promised to increase petrol supply across the country from next week.

While reassuring Nigerians of the determination of the federal government to ensure adequate supply, Mr. Sylva called on the security agencies to prevent attempts by “subversive elements” to cause any disruption to fuel supplies ahead of the general election.

He noted that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is sincere in finding a permanent solution to the fuel problem in the country and called on relevant bodies in the oil and gas sector to join hands with the government to end the problem.

The statement noted that during a tour of selected petrol stations in Abuja last Friday, Mr. Sylva expressed the government’s satisfaction with the efforts of NNPCL to ensure availability of fuel across the country.

He said that in the last month, NNPCL has maintained a total weekly evacuation of 450.92 million liters, a daily average of 64.42 million liters.

While calling for collective support to overcome the fuel challenge, Mr. Sylva said the government feels the pain of ordinary Nigerians due to continuous fuel queues.

“The problem associated with fuel queues in the country is not a problem that happened with the Buhari administration, but the result of years of rot and decadence in the supply chain and distribution of fuel products by successive governments.

“The Buhari administration is addressing the fuel issue holistically stressing that this is the first time in many years that the government is addressing issues related to fuel supply and distribution together,” he said.

He further explained that the federal government has also embarked on the rehabilitation of refineries that have been neglected over the years.

He said the government, through NNPCL, acquired a 20 percent equity stake in the Dangote refinery and started licensing the modular refinery.

NNPC intervention

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited on Tuesday promised a major improvement in the supply of petroleum products across the country next week.

The Group Chief Executive of NNPC, Mele Kyari, disclosed this while speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday evening.

In recent months, Nigerians have had a tough time getting petroleum products at filling stations across the country. The shortage has persisted even as the government has repeatedly claimed that it has sufficient stocks of petroleum products amid poor electricity supply across the country.

Last month, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the constitution of a 14-member steering committee to deal with the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.

The Nigerian Middle and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), also attributed the ongoing shortage of fuel in the country to disruptions in the product distribution chain caused by the activities of cross-border smugglers.

Speaking on Tuesday, Mr Kyari said the supply issue would be resolved soon.

“I apologize for the situation. On behalf of all of us, stakeholders in the oil and gas industry. Of course, they are not always exclusive. Having said this, it is unfortunate. It’s a glitch.

“We are responsible for solving this problem. We will solve this,” said Mr. Kyari.

He noted that market forces will determine how quickly the problem is resolved.

“Now for the next week, I’m not saying you won’t have a queue next week, no, I can’t guarantee it because there are some things that are out of our control, and of course, market forces will determine some of these issues.

“But I believe that we will see it very easily and relatively compared to today in the next week.

“We do not benefit from doing this. We are family. We are members and part of this community. We are very proud of this country. We want this country to prosper. We do not want Nigerians to suffer and of course, as a condition, we do not think if someone has to go through this,” he said.

The NNPC boss said the company was on top of the situation to control the crisis by increasing the supply of crude oil to the market.

“We know that the solution is excess supply. Once we can do excess supply across countries and locations, you will solve this problem, which is what we are doing now.

“We are trying to evacuate today. Every day, we do more than 70 million liters to the market against the regular evacuation of up to 63-64 million liters.

“It will work and we believe that it is easy to see in many locations now. I don’t want to mention specific locations but I know that we will be comfortable throughout the country. This is easing up,” he said.

Speaking on the country’s fuel shortage challenge amid the abundance of crude products in the country, Mr. Kyari said fuel queues are not unusual in other countries.

“It happens everywhere when you have a pipeline breach, a pipeline problem, and so on.

“We don’t expect this to happen in our country, but you have to have a guarantee of supply in your country, so we are focused on delivering the refinery rehabilitation project so that this product is close to us.

“Right now, this has not happened. The rehabilitation of the refinery has not been completed. The Dangote refinery has not stopped. Both will happen and if that happens, you have security and security of supply close to you.

“And the assurance I have now is that NNPC has locked in supply to this country regardless of the funding challenges it is facing,” he said.

NNPCL started direct supply of petrol to IPMAN

Also, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said the management of NNPCL has allocated petrol to its members immediately to ease the shortage.
The National President of IPMAN, Chinedu Okoronkwo, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

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Mr. Okoronkwo said the order was directed after a meeting of IPMAN executives and NNPCL management.

He said the meeting decided that IPMAN members should refuel at NIPCO, MRS and other loading depots.

He said that NNPCL management has confirmed that the product has been released to the depot for immediate loading by IPMAN members.

He said IPMAN members are advised to upgrade their POS to G4 or G5 for payment efficiency.

According to him, “Members without POS are also encouraged to gain efficiency.

“The rule is in collaboration with NNPCL Retails Ltd. and IPMAN.

“IPMAN members are encouraged to open stations and start selling to the public nationwide.”

Mr. Okoronkwo said IPMAN is the association responsible for over 85 percent of filling stations in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

He added that lPMAN will raise the bulk of the NIPCO and MRS depots in the West and North West regions of the country.

Mr. Okoronkwo told the paying members to start refueling from designated depots.

He said the meeting was attended by the National President of IPMAN, Chinedu Okoronkwo; IPMAN BOT Chairman, Abdulkardir Aminu, and other IPMAN executive committee members.

Said Adeyemi Adetunji, Hilir executive vice president; Lawal Sade, Managing Director of NNPCL Trading and Huub Stokman, Managing Director of NNPC Retail Ltd were also present.

As a result, lPMAN has reversed the previous order requiring its members to suspend all operations across the country, he said.