By Amechi Ogbonna
AS the embarrassing nationwide fuel scarcity continues to hurt families and businesses with prices hitting almost N200 per litre, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday assured it would bring the chaotic situation under control in a matter of days. Although the assurance was coming after the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, told Nigerians the crisis could linger till May, the NNPC in a statement signed by its spokesman, Garba Deen Mohammed, outlined new ways to arrest the situation, stressing it was on top of the petroleum products supply and distribution situation, while remaining committed to eliminating the endemic issue once and for all within the next few days.
While urging Nigerians to report product hoarders and saboteurs of the administration’s change efforts as they are wittingly fighting every bold change effort currently being put in place, it advised Nigerians to shun panic buying and undue return trips as this attitude emboldens marketers to hoard products.
The statement added, “Supply constraints due to foreign exchange challenges are being resolved through collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria on innovative ways of closing the gaps in accessing foreign exchange. Similarly, as a result of credible leadership provided by the Honorable Minster of State, Petroleum Resources/Group Managing Director, NNPC, the major international upstream oil companies have indicated their willingness to support major oil marketing companies with some of the required foreign exchange.”
It added that as a result of the challenges that major oil marketers face in contributing their supply quota due to constraint in accessing foreign exchange and outstanding subsidy obligations, NNPC is burdened with the obligation to guarantee almost 100 per cent in the national supply, since the domestic crude oil supply (445,000 bbls/d) can only guarantee about 50 per cent of the 45 million litres national requirement for petrol; adding it has secured presidential approval to take additional crude oil volume to guarantee national supply of petrol.
Furthermore, to curb storage and logistics challenges, NNPC said it is working on a joint partnership with technically and financially capable investors to ensure that petroleum products transportation and storage facilities are efficiently operated on an open-access
common-carrier user-tariff basis. It hinted that some of these Depots will be nominated as strategic reserves while we take possession of a strategic reserve vessel in the next 3 months. Tangible results will be delivered within the next 3 – 6 months.
He said “The current administration inherited a huge catalog of issues and problems in the downstream sector not limited to arrears of subsidy payments to oil marketers, corruption and inefficiencies in the supply and distribution chain, incessant vandalism of pipelines, refineries poor performance, among others.”