…as NNPC CEO assures fuel queues will vanish in few days
Olusola Bello
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya has assured Nigerians that his Committee will handle companies who imported methanol-blended Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) into the country.
The Chairman stated this while responding to a question from one of the Committee members in that regard.
Hon. Gaya spoke during an engagement with Management of the NNPC organised by the Committee on the current fuel situation in the country.
While briefing the Committee, the CEO/GMD, Mele Kyari explained that the situation came about as a result of the discovery of methanol in the PMS cargoes shipped to Nigeria under the subsisting commercial contract operated by NNPC and its partners.
According to the CEO, the reason why tests did not reveal methanol presence was because Nigeria’s specifications do not include methanol.
“We are a law-abiding company. There is no way we could have known about the methanol presence. The only way we could have known about it is if our suppliers, in good faith, made the disclosure to us. In this particular instance, the discovery was made by our inspection agents who noticed the emulsification at the filling stations and brought it to our attention. Subsequent investigation revealed that the four cargoes which are all from the same source also contained methanol-blended PMS,” the CEO added.
He said NNPC then moved swiftly to trace all the affected products and quarantine the same.
While assuring the Committee and Nigerians that measures have been put in place to accelerate fuel supply and distribution in the country, the NNPC CEO said the company had placed significant orders of over 2.1billion liters of methanol-free PMS to ensure the queues vanish in a few days.
He pledged that NNPC would co-operate with the Committee and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to get to the root of the matter.
The NNPC CEO also expressed deep empathy with Nigerians on the current situation and assured that adequate measures have been put in place to maintain supply sufficiency and prevent future occurrence.
The NNPC had stated that it had started a 24-hour distribution of petrol to service stations to end a week-long scarcity that has caused traffic snarls in major cities.
The fuel shortage which started a few days ago in the commercial city of Lagos and administrative capital Abuja has caused long queues with few petrol stations selling the product.
Transport fares have gone up in several cities, curtailing services and forcing some residents and workers to walk long distances to their destinations.
Most homes in Nigeria also rely on petrol and diesel to power their generators as the public power supply is unreliable and prone to blackouts.
The state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) blamed the situation on importation of adulterated petrol by four oil marketers into the country.
The company said in a statement late Tuesday that measures, including around-the-clock distribution to service stations, had begun.
“In order to accelerate distribution across the country, we have commenced 24-hour operations at our depots and retail outlets.”
The NNPC has also directed oil marketers, depot owners and service stations to begin 24 hours loading and dispensing activities in some of their designated outlets.
The NNPC said it had enough stock to end the shortage, while more supplies were expected by the end of February.
“As of today, NNPC has over one billion litres of certified PMS (petrol) stock that is safe for use in vehicles and machineries,” the company said.
“As part of NNPC’s strategic restocking, over 2.3 billion litres of PMS (petrol) is scheduled for delivery between now and end of February 2022 which will restore sufficiency level above the national target of 30 days.”
It said a monitoring team, comprising security agents, to ensure smooth distribution of fuel nationwide had been set up.
The company appealed to Nigerians to avoid panic buying, adding that its measures would restore normalcy in a few days.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude producer, depends on fuel imports to meet local demand as its four refineries are either not working at all or operating below their installed capacity.
Petrol is sold below market rate in Nigeria as part of measures to make it affordable, but the IMF and the World Bank have advised the government to stop the so-called fuel subsidy scheme to free resources for development.
