Tag Archives: Petrol

FG still owing oil marketers N300bn subsidy arrears – Forte Oil Boss

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The federal government is yet to pay over N300 billion subsidy claims of major oil marketers for fuel imports between 2014-2015, says Akin Akinfemiwa, group chief executive officer of Forte Oil Nigeria.

Akinfemiwa made the disclosure on Thursday when he appeared before the house of representatives ad hoc committee investigating debts owed to the Petroleum Pipeline Marketing Company (PPMC) by oil marketers.

According to the oil chief, his company owes N5.9 billion to the PPMC but was also being owed N13.8 billion in subsidy claims.

He informed the Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya-led committee that steps were being taken to settle the subsidy arrears by the federal government.

“So far, the government, led by the Chief of Staff to the President invited us to a meeting with other stakeholders to address two issues. One was to continue petrol supply, and two was for Federal Government to pay its debts. For the debts, a committee was set up to settle them.

“The total stands at over N300 billion. Right now, we cannot even do much, but we do not want a situation where there will be queues in the country,” Akinfemiwa said.

 

Source: The Cable

Naira struggles: The missing 42nd item – By Nonso Obikili

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The 41 item exclusion list is no news. In June of 2015, in response to the collapse of foreign exchange inflows, thanks to the crude oil price crash, the central bank decided to change tactics in its quest to maintain a “stable” naira. It abandoned the policy of drawing down on the foreign reserves and opted to just ban certain market participants from the official foreign exchange markets. This, it argued, would reduce pressure on the exchange rate. Demand management they called it. In doing this it drafted a now infamous list of 41 items that were banned from buying foreign exchange from the official markets. The list included things like palm oil, rice, toothpicks and eurobonds.

The logic was simple. If foreign exchange is scarce then we have to prioritise what we spend it on. We can’t keep spending scarce foreign exchange importing things that we can produce locally. In the abridged words of the central bank governor; “why do we continue to import when our vast quantities of comparable quality products are being wasted or simply ignored”. I mean, why spend scarce foreign exchange importing palm oil when we have it in the South South. Why import rice when we can grow it locally. The tacit assumption was that if certain items were banned from the foreign exchange market then people would not import them, and we would produce them locally. And it all kind of makes sense, especially if you don’t know much about economics.

Now I’m not writing this to convince you that the policy works or not. I am here to tell you that there is one item missing from that list. There is a 42nd item that, for unknown reasons, was excluded. A product that Nigeria should be known for. A product that we have all the necessary ingredients to produce locally. A product that we really should not be importing but should even be producing a surplus and exporting. That product is premium motor spirit, popularly known as fuel.

Finally, we have the market for fuel. We consumed about 51.5 million litres of fuel per day on average in 2016. We consume so much fuel that it is has been the single largest imported item for decades. In terms of value, we spend 250 percent more foreign exchange importing fuel, not including diesel or kerosene, than we do for all food, including rice, palm oil, wheat and everything else. In fact, I would argue that if we somehow stopped importing fuel today, our foreign exchange crisis would be over, albeit temporarily.

So just to recap, we have the raw materials, the skills, and the market, and if we stopped importing fuel our foreign exchange crisis might be over. If the central bank really believed that banning products from the official markets really led to local production of that product, then why isn’t fuel on the list. Surely fuel should be the 42nd item.

Fortunately, discussing the crude oil industry is a national pastime. We talk about it every other day and we know, beyond the shadow of doubt, the challenges in moving from drilling oil to producing fuel. We know that in reality producing fuel is a lot more complicated than banning fuel imports or banning fuel importers from foreign exchange markets. We know that if we banned fuel importers from buying dollars then all that would happen is the pump price of fuel would go up. We will probably still import it and not produce it locally.

If the central bank really believes that its 41 items exclusion list does anything other than create distortions in the foreign exchange market, then it should ban fuel importers so we know it’s real. Else it should be abandoned for causing more problems than it solves.

 

Nonso Obikili is an economist currently roaming somewhere between Nigeria and South Africa and tweets @nonso2. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not reflect the views of his employers.

Electric cars to weaken demand for petrol within the decade

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Oil companies underestimating the global market for electric vehicles could be caught unaware by weakened demand for petrol within a decade, analysts said Wednesday.

Falling costs of electric cars and renewable technology may halt growth in oil demand from as early as 2020, they argued in a report.

The current boom in electric vehicles is on track to displace two million barrels of oil per day by 2025, they calculated.

By 2035, that figure could quintuple, with electric cars accounting for a third of the road transport market, said the report, jointly issued by financial think tank Carbon Tracker and the Grantham Institute, both in London.

The power and road transport sectors account for about half of fossil fuel consumption, so growth in solar energy and electric vehicles can have a major impact on demand.

“Electric vehicles and solar power are game-changers that the fossil fuel industry consistently underestimates,” said Luke Sussams, a senior analyst at Carbon Tracker.

“Very few companies or institutions in the energy industry are really considering the upside if the technology explodes and grows exponentially,” he told AFP.

Oil and gas giant BP, for example, predicted last week that oil demand from cars would continue to rise well into the mid-2030s.

In 2035, electric vehicles will only make up six percent of the global car fleet, it said in its 2017 Energy Outlook.

Other fossil fuel companies have made similarly rosy forecasts for oil demand.

Non-industry analysts are split on how quickly electric vehicles will displace those powered by internal combustion engines.

The 29-nation International Energy Agency (IEA), formed after the 1973 oil crisis, sees relatively modest growth, resulting in an eight percent market share — about 150 million vehicles — by 2040, and only 1.3 million barrels of oil displaced per day.

– Exponential growth –
Even their prescriptive “450 ppm” forecast — a blueprint for energy growth deemed consistent with capping global warming at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) — only foresees 710 million electric vehicles by that date.

Holding warming to 2C is the core goal of the 196-nation Paris climate treaty.

But the IEA’s poor track record for forecasting solar and wind growth suggests estimates for electric cars may be too conservative as well.

“The IEA and the oil companies are still playing catch up on renewables,” said Sussams. “Every year they are upgrading their assumptions around renewable energy penetration.”

The IEA’s last revision was in October 2016.

Private forecaster Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s estimates, by contrast, are much closer to the new figures: a 22 percent market share for electric vehicles by 2035.

The disagreement on how quickly fossil fuel companies may face falling demand — and possibly stranded assets — is built into the assumptions behind the forecasts.

“We assume the electric vehicles will be cheaper than oil-burning combustion engine vehicles from 2020 onward,” explained Sussams.

The Carbon Tracker model also presumes very rapid growth, and an absence of bottlenecks, such as a shortage of charging stations.

China — the largest market in the world for electric vehicles — sold more than half-a-million in 2016.

“That is close to exponential growth,” Sussams said.

The forecasts are also in line with those of major car makers, including Tesla, GM and major European manufacturers.

The 60-page report — entitled “The disruptive power of low-carbon technology — notes that a 10 percent loss of the power market-share caused the collapse of the US coal mining industry.

Similarly, Europe’s five major utilities lost more than 100 billion euros ($105 billion) in value from 2008 to 2013 “because they were unprepared for an eight percent growth in renewable power.”

 

Source: AFP

“Report filling stations selling petrol above N145” – DPR tell Nigerians

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The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Bayelsa  said it has intensified regulatory activities to check unauthorised hike in the price of petrol by marketers in the state.

Operations Controller of DPR in the state, Asuquo Antai told newsmen on Thursday in Yenagoa.

He said more patrol has been sent out to keep tab on petroleum prices all over the state.

Asuquo said the decision was informed by activities of some marketers who exploit members of the public by increasing the pump price of petrol.

He said, “We want to emphasise to petrol marketers that we will not tolerate profiteering.

“The marketers want to increase the price of petrol due to pressure on ex-depot prices, but we insist that the market is a regulated one and government has not reviewed the price of petrol.

“We are also aware that prices at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depots have remained the same.

“Some marketers lift from there and claim that they bought from private depots at higher prices.

“We have met with the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAM) officials in Bayelsa and they have complained that products arrive in the depots above the ex-depot prices of N136.

“They explained that the pressure on price was eroding their margins and eating into their profits.

“We have advised them to discourage profiteering by not sourcing the products at exorbitant prices because we cannot allow anyone to sell above N145.”

He urged members of the public to report filling stations selling above N145 to motorists.

 

Source: YNaija

Bad news for oil-producing countries as scientists near end to reliance on fossil fuels

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More bad news for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and other crude oil products as the quest to end the world’s reliance on fossil fuels advances: a fusion power firm has raised $500 million (£405 million) to develop commercial fusion power.

According to a detailed report in Science, Tri Alpha Energy has already developed a machine that can hold hot plasma steady at 18 million°F (10 million°C) for 11.5 milliseconds.

The firm will use the funds to extend this time further and at even higher temperatures, and believes that it could have the world’s first commercial fusion reactor by 2027.

Fusion involves placing hydrogen atoms under high heat and pressure until they fuse into helium atoms. When deuterium and tritium nuclei – which can be found in hydrogen – fuse, they form a helium nucleus, a neutron and a lot of energy. This is down by heating the fuel to temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun.

Strong magnetic fields are used to keep the plasma away from the walls so that it doesn’t cool down and lost it energy potential. These are produced by superconducting coils surrounding the vessel, and by an electrical current driven through the plasma. For energy production. plasma has to be confined for a sufficiently long period for fusion to occur.

The particular type of fusion power Tri Alpha is working on is based on heating hydrogen atoms to temperatures of 5.4 billion°F (3 billion°C) – which is hotter than the surface of the sun. The heat creates plasma that has a mixture of electrons and ions. When ions in a plasma collide, they fuse together to form new atoms and release huge amounts of energy. It is a relatively simple concept, but the trick is in heating the gas to such a high temperature. Currently no known material can hold this heat.

Over the years, scientists have come up with two main methods to overcome this; cause an implosion that occurs rapidly, or use a magnetic field.

Tri Alpha Energy is using the latter option, but says it has made its breakthrough with an unusual reactor design – a long, tube that collides pairs of plasma donuts to produce heat.

According to a detailed report in Science, the team has placed magnets around a cigar shaped configuration that allows for firing angled plasma beams at one another.

The plasma that forms from its hydrogen and boron sample is then stabilised with beams of high-energy particles.

Tri Alpha is keeping many details about its project under wraps.

But Science has confirmed that the company now plans to create a fusion tube that boasts even more power and can reach hotter temperatures for longer periods of time.

Using this approach, the scientists were able to reportedly heat the gas up to 10 million °C for 11.5 milliseconds, at which point the machine ran out of fuel.

This, however, is still short of the 5.4 billion °F (3 billion °C) temperature needed to achieve a fusion reaction.

The team now plans to use the $500 million (£405 million) funding to improve its machine, dubbed C-2U, to achieve a ten-fold increase in temperature needed to create a fusion reactor design.

Presidency orders immediate payment of N150 billion subsidy claims to marketers

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The presidency on Tuesday ordered the immediate payment of the N150 billion outstanding subsidy claims owed petroleum products marketers.

The order is coming amid speculations that government was considering increasing fuel price in the country in the face of rising fuel importation and distribution costs.

The speculations were fuelled by reports ahead of the scheduled meeting of the Board of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, on Thursday to review the existing petroleum products pricing template fundamentals, among other issues.

Since May 2016, when the template was adjusted, raising petrol price from N86 per litre to between N135 and N145 per litre, prevailing market conditions have fuelled calls for further review of the retail pump price.

Global crude oil price, which rose from below $30 per barrels then to the current price of $52 per barrel, and the Central Bank of Nigeria foreign exchange policy have resulted in the scarcity of funds for petroleum marketers.

The rising cost of fuel importation had caused major and independent petroleum marketers to abandon importation of petroleum products for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which accounts for more than 60 per cent of the total national stock.

A senior NNPC official told PREMIUM TIMES on Tuesday in Abuja that the corporation was bearing the bulk of the almost N90 billion cost incurred as subsidy on importation of petroleum products.

The official, who requested that his identity should not be revealed as he was not authorised to speak on the issue, said the cost was as a result of high landing cost, distribution margins and port charges by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.

Ahead of the meeting of the PPPRA Board, close watchers of the market said the regulatory authority could be considering a review in the pricing template to allow for adequate accommodation of the costs to sustain importation of products.

But, the Nigeria Labour Congress President, Ayuba Wabba, in a telephone interview on Wednesday allayed fears by Nigerians about any plan by government to increase fuel prices, describing any such decision as a ‘no go area.’

“It is not true,” Mr. Wabba said of alleged plans by the PPPRA to take a decision during its meeting to raise fuel price.

“Nobody would dare go to that area. We have just finished a meeting this evening at the (Presidential) Villa on the issue, and it was very clear and emphatic that nobody would make any attempt to touch that issue.

“The meeting of the PPPRA Board would dare not include that on its agenda. It was clear at the meeting at the Villa that fuel price increase is a no go area. Even the petroleum products marketers are aware of this.

“Government knows that fuel price increase is a very sensitive issue at this time and therefore nobody should take Nigerians for a ride. It is commitment given by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, on behalf of the federal government.

“Every marketer, both major and independent, NNPC, PPMC (Pipelines and Petroleum Products Marketing, Company) were there at the meeting.

Mr. Wabba said the meeting, called to address the challenges in the shortage of diesel, kerosene and other products, also resolved to ensure that products were available across the country, particularly in the rural areas.

The meeting attended by all the relevant ministers, including those in charge of petroleum resources, labour and productivity as well as the Central Bank governor, resolved to take steps to encourage more involvement of other marketers in fuel importation.

“Government was very emphatic during the meeting that nobody should contemplate anything about increment in price of petroleum products,” the labour leader said.

Oil workers have said they would not accept another increase in petrol price at this time.

PENGASSAN President, Francis Johnson, said all the participants at the meeting would not like to go back on their pledge, describing any attempt to increase fuel price as “suicidal.”

Part of government’s efforts to encourage marketers to resume the importation of petroleum products includes the approval for the payment of the N150 billion Petroleum Equalisation Fund debt owed petroleum marketers.

The National Secretary of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Zarma Mustapha, said the money was part of the subsidy refund on the cost of distribution of petroleum products across the country.

NUPENG, PENGASSAN oppose plan to hike price of fuel

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Petroleum workers yesterday kicked against the plan by government to increase the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.

The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) otherwise known as NUPENGASSAN, made this known yesterday in their position papers to the Chairman, Ad-Hoc House of Representatives Committee on the Review of Pump Price of Premium Motor Spirit.

NUPENGASSAN maintained: “This is not the right time to review the pricing template of PMS due to certain reasons.”

However, the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru dismissed reports of any upward review of the price of petrol.

His counterpart at the Nigeria Petroleum Marketing Company (NPMC), Mr. Farouk Ahmed also spoke in the same vein, saying his outfit can no longer worsen the rate of the average Nigerian with a fuel price increase.

Both spoke yesterday before the same ad hoc committee in Abuja.

Baru, who was represented by NNPC’s chief Executive Officer, Downstream, Henry Ikem-Obih, faulted the notions that NNPC stopped supply of fuel to marketers since last week. He said the coastal price of the product to marketers still stood at N123 per litre.

Ahmed, who assured that his outfit would ensure availability of fuel through its retail outlets, remarked that there was nothing his outfit could do to reduce the price of kerosene and diesel since the prices of the products have been deregulated.

He blamed foreign exchange problems for the high cost of the products. The NPMC chief expressed optimism that the involvement of more marketers and repair of pipelines remains the solution to the shortage of the products across the country.

FG will NOT increase pump price of petrol, says NNPC

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has advised Nigerians not to engage in any panic buying of petroleum products.

Ndu Ughamadu, spokesman of the corporation, issued a statement late Wednesday to dismiss the report of a likely increase in the price of the products.

He said the corporation had a 1.3billion litres stock of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, which is sufficient to serve the nation for more than 38 days.

“This plea comes on the heels of reports that some motorists have begun panic buying of petrol, following rumours that the government is about to increase the pump price of the white product from N145 per litre,” the statement read.

“NNPC wishes to assure Nigerians that there is no iota of truth in the rumour that government is scheduled to adjust pump price of petrol.

“Indeed, with the resumption of production by the Corporation’s three refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri, complemented by imports, there is enough stock of PMS, automotive gas oil (AGO), diesel and kerosene.”

Ughamadu said Anibor Kragha, NNPC’s chief operating officer of the refineries, explained the state of refineries to lawmakers when he appeared before the senate on Wednesday.

“Mr. Anibor Kragha briefed the senate committee on petroleum downstream in a presentation on the current status of the refineries at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja,” he said.

“In the presentation, Kragha told the legislators that the nation’s three refineries produced additional volumes of 4.6 million litres of kerosene and 7.7 million litres of diesel, in addition to millions of litres of petrol being refined daily at the nation’s refineries.

“The assurances of availability of stock by the NNPC Chief Operation Officer of the Refineries yesterday still stand.”

 

Source: The Cable

NUPENG calls off 3-day warning strike

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The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Wednesday in Abuja called off its three-day nationwide warning strike.

NUPENG’s President, Igwe Achese, announced the suspension at a meeting called at the instance of Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige.

Other groups at the meeting were the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Nigeria National Petroleum Co-operation (NNPC), National Salaries and Wages Commission, oil and Servicing companies, among others.

NUPENG gave a notice of three-day warning strike on Tuesday, over disputes with International Oil Companies, over indiscriminate sack of workers without benefits and refusal to allow their workers to join union.

“I am happy to say that each and every issue raised has been addressed and I hope that all parties will be committed to implement the agreement.

“We have therefore decided to call off the three- day warning strike. ‘’

Mr. Achese commended the minister for his intervention in addressing the issues raised by the union.

Mr. Ngige urged all oil companies that entered into the collective agreement to ensure its implementation.

He also commended PENGASSAN for also calling off its two-weeks warning strike.

The minister gave the oil companies two weeks to resolve all outstanding issues.

GUARDIAN: Petrol price template crumbles as PPPRA is in disarray.

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The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), which controls the cost of petrol in the country, is in disarray and this is disrupting the implementation of the existing pricing template.

The Guardian learnt in Abuja yesterday that the disruption in the system is caused by a lack of mechanism for a quarterly price adjustment, absence of a board and failure by government to appoint a substantive executive secretary. It was learnt that these factors have contributed more to the collapse of the pricing template than the lack of forex for fuel imports. The current open market price of petrol is above the N145 per litre.

The rising cost of crude oil in the international market has renewed pressure on government to increase the pump price as subsidy is staging a gradual comeback. The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has almost become the last resort in the supply chain following the inability of independent marketers to access foreign exchange for fuel imports.

The General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said a lack of a properly instituted modulation scheme would continually lead to price increase.

“Any modulation scheme that is based on import will always lead to consistent price increment,” he said, urging government to build fund from crude oil savings to ensure that modulation is done.

He said the Ibrahim Mantu committee indeed recommended the modulation scheme in 2005 and how it should be operated but that the Olusegun Obasanjo government opted for Petroleum Support Fund.

While a board has been announced for the agency, it is yet to be inaugurated which has made the review of petrol price modulation for the sector impossible.

This has also rendered the Acting Executive Secretary of the Agency, Victor Shidok confused as he has not appointed a substantive general manager, operations, because he is not sure whether he will return to the position or not.

This development has led Mr. Olasupo Agbaje to combine both Operations and Corporate Services Departments, which is seen as detrimental to the functionality of the organisation.

The Chairman, Petroleum Downstream Sector, Ken Abazie, said though PPPRA may not have released another guide for the industry, the available template, which was released in May last year, had made provision for variance and movement that may affect petrol price.

According to Abazie, the current template for petrol would still allow marketers to import and make profit. “But if marketers continue to get forex either from the parallel market or black market, the price of petrol may soon be above the common man,” he added.

The Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association, Thomas Olawore, said that many marketers were no longer working on the template as they had stopped the importation of petroleum product for a long time.

“What we do now is to rely on NNPC for product due to the high cost of sourcing foreign exchange. It is true there is a major difference between the landing cost of petrol and the regulated price; we don’t know how NNPC is coping with the difference. For now, we depend on NNPC,” he said.

The NNPC yesterday said its Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries were expected to pump about 5.3 million litres of kerosene into the market as the three refineries resumed operations.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian in Abuja, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Product Marketing Company (NPMC), Farouk Ahmed, said the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries had resumed production while Kaduna refinery was also expected to come on stream.

“Port Harcourt refinery is producing between 2.2 and 2.3 million litres per day, Warri is also producing the same while Kaduna is producing 700,000 litres per day,” he said.

Confirming the resumption, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Ndu Ngamadu, in a statement quoted the Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Solomon Ladenegan, as saying Warri Refinery had been doing well since the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) was revved up last Saturday.

According to him, the plant now refines two million litres of kerosene and three million litres of diesel daily.

“This morning, we have pumped the products to PPMC and they have started loading. They are going to load up to one million litres of DPK and AGO. The products are there in the tank and we are doing everything to get them to the market,” Ladenegan disclosed.

Also, the Managing Director of the Paort Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Dr. Bafred Enjugu, said Port Harcourt Refinery was producing three million litres of AGO daily, in addition to millions of DPK being churned out by the refinery daily.

While the question of potential scarcity rages, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), which began a three-day warning, strike called it off the same day.

At the end of the emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, the President of NUPENG, Igwe Achese, said the warning strike was intended to draw government attention to the massive termination of appointments of workers in the oil and gas sector as a result of divestment of assets and disobedience to labour laws by International Oil Companies (IOCs).

 

Source: Guardian

Tragedy averted by LASEMA officials as a petrol station in Bariga went up in flames

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There was pandemonium in Bariga community yesterday, December 14, 2015, after a filling station located at Pedro bus stop caught fire.

 

While residents and other commuters battle to put off the fire, it took the timely intervention of the Emergency Response Team of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and other rescue officers to quench the inferno.

 

During the inferno, part of the filling station was razed. Also, a nearby building was partly affected.

 

See some photos from the scene below.

 

fire-incident-1

 

fire-incident

 

fire-incident-3

NNPC May Adjust Petrol Pump Price On Falling Cargo Rates- Report

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) may undertake a downward review of the pump price of petrol in its retail outlets across the country.

It was gathered from an authoritative source within the corporation in Abuja that this was possible from a reported consistent drop in the historical price of petroleum cargoes from about $600 per metric tonne to an average of $440 per metric tonne.

NNPC had recently adjusted the pump price of petrol at its outlets, thus raising fears of a possible hike. The development also followed claims in August by its former Group Managing Directors that the government’s pricing modulation framework was not economical for the downstream petroleum business.

The source however stated that the cargo price is one of the key elements often considered by the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) in its calculation of the template for petrol pump price.

This, he noted, has been on the downward trend and could necessitate the corporation reviewing its pump price to reflect the market realities. The other key element being the foreign exchange has been left floating by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He also explained that the corporation has spent a lot of energies securing its petrol supplies and distribution networks to keep the country from what he described as system sabotage during the yuletide season by some marketers.

“One of the things we wanted to achieve is to ensure that we do not have queues in this time of the year and a lot of the energies have been spent on securing that. If you look at the market trend at the moment, we have been fortunate. Historically, it is this time of the year that cargo prices are about $500 to $600 per metric tonne, and this is one of the two key elements on the PPPRA templates that nobody controls – it is down to market forces,” he said.

According to him, “The cargo price is usually between $500 and $600 per metric tonne, but this year, we have even had cargoes for $440. The pricing has been good. Our network is a mix of the NNPC and others, because of the open market forex policy, the cost of doing business for others is higher. What NNPC retail has done is to adjust the price to accommodate the additional expense of doing business around this time of the year
“The N145 per litre is not just the margin but includes freights and all sorts of other expenses; we did that to accommodate the expenses and as we get cheaper and cheaper cargoes, we will adjust our prices in accordance.”

Read More: thisdaylive

No provision for fuel subsidy in 2016 budget – NNPC

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has said it has no plans to increase the pump price of petrol from N145 per litre, neither was it contemplating a return to subsidising fuel.

The rebuttal is coming on the heels of a statement credited to the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division, NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, that the sale of petrol at N145 was no longer feasible at the current exchange rate.

In a swift reaction yesterday, the NNPC, through its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Garba-Deen Muhammed, said reference of unsustainability of N145 per litre of petrol only relates to possible spike in international market price of petroleum products.

“This has been mitigated by NNPC’s long-term procurement contract plan that guarantees stable pricing.”

Muhammed further stated that it had a robust supply arrangement that can guarantee sustainable supply over a long period of time.

Kyari, on Monday reportedly said that the sale of petrol at N145 per litre was no longer sustainable with the current foreign exchange.

“We have a very difficult business environment. It is impossible today to import products at the current market price, current fixed foreign exchange,” Kyari reportedly said in Lagos.

The corporation, however, promised to sustain the tempo of petroleum products supply throughout the ember months and beyond across the country at the current rate of N145 per litre.

The state oil firm assured that it had resolved all issues that had to do with foreign exchange stability in order to ensure fuel price stability and distribution.

“Nigerians should not engage in panic buying, as there is no cause for alarm with respect to pump price increase or shortage of products,” it said.

Muhammed explained further that if there was going to be any increase in PMS price, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) would definitely sensitise Nigerians on it and give reasons for it.

“The statement people are referring to was made within the context of technical explanation, not within the context of downstream operations. A new window to make forex available for marketers for their import needs have been opened and they are satisfied with it,” he said.

Muhammad disclosed that there was already PMS glut in the market, as a lot of products were on ground waiting for off-takers, stressing that there was no payment of petrol subsidy by the government on petrol.

It’s impossible to sell petrol at N145 per litre, we need to increase price – NNPC

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As Nigerians grapple with recession, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Monday reminded the nation that the sale of petrol at N145 per litre was no longer feasible with the current price of foreign exchange.

The Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing, NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, stated this at this year’s Oil Trading and Logistics Expo, OTL, holding in Lagos.

He said: “We have a very difficult business environment. It is impossible today to import products at the current market price, at current fixed foreign exchange, FOREX rate. ‘’There is no way today you can take products to retailers and sell at N145. It is not possible. If that is true and I believe that it is, because we all go to the market.

Why can’t we sell above N145? That is where legislation should come in.” Kyari, who explained that the current price was not realistic, however, said that any official increase by the government would not go down well with the citizenry as it will be resisted.

“I also know today that it is impossible for this government to announce tomorrow that petrol is about N150. This government cannot sustain it. That is the truth.

The people will not accept that figure. ‘’That is why suppliers are not importing. It is not FX. We have created a niche market for the FX. I am part of the committee allocating FX. We gave FX. It was rejected. The reason being given is that FX is not enough to import. But that is not true. “The truth is that marketers go back to the market and land it here, that you are required to sell it at N145 maximum. I am sure they won’t make it.

We won’t let you do it today. That is the main reason people are not importing today. It is not FX,” he added. Kyari further expplained that Nigeria was still in a subsidy regime, as the NNPC took the bulk of importation to ensure that petrol was sold at the official rate of N145 per litre. “Today, we are in subsidy regime, absolutely. There is no way you bring product today and sell at N145 and get back your money, and make profit. That is not possible.

You can see some marketers saying that fuel is N138. ‘’It is because they did not import. Somebody has taken the heat off the price. Because we (NNPC) have taken the heat, and you buy from us; you can afford to go to the market and then put a ridiculous price. It is not possible, because they did not import it. It is not FX,” he said. Debunking the notion that marketers were constrained by the unavailability of FX, he accused them of being reluctant to go for it.

He added: “As I speak to you, there is stranded FX that nobody is ready to pick up. We have closed the chapter on FX.’’

Black market petrol dealers in Kano out of business – NAN survey

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Most black market petrol dealers in Kano are out of business, following the availability of the product in the state.

A survey by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano and other major towns in the state, showed that most filling stations had the product in stock.

Following this development, several filling stations had reduced the official pump price of petrol from N145 per litre to between N143 and N140 per litre.

Motorists and other commercial vehicle operators, who usually patronise the black marketers, have since stopped, preferring to buy the product at filling stations.

A four-litre gallon of petrol costs between N560 and N570 at filling stations while the same quantity cost between N750 and N800 at the black market.

Hassan Sani, who sells petrol in the black market and operates along the popular Audu Bako Way, told NAN that he would soon switch to another business.

He said before the new price regime, he used to sell up to 75 litres of petrol every day.

“But with the availability of the product now, I can hardly sell one (25 litre) jerry can,” he said.

“Most of my customers have stopped patronising me as the product is available at filling stations, and more so it is cheaper to buy at filling stations,” he said.

Abdul, another black market operator who operates near Pyramid Radio along Audu Bako Way, said he had abandoned the sale of petrol and taken to vulcanizing to survive and cater for him family.

Hike in petrol price inevitable – IPMAN

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The speculation about possible increase in price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol, may hold some water as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, yesterday warned of a threat to product availability in the country.

This came as expert blamed marketers of insensitivity to price moderation when government placed a cap on petrol price in May.

But, other operators have argued that the price of petrol was driven by economic variables, which could not be altered for a long time due to foreign exchange challenges.

Speaking, National President, IPMAN, Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, said: “But I will advice for total deregulation. The price moderation, which is the cap placed is not healthy for the petroleum industry to grow.

“There are people who have the forex to bring product and sell. By so doing, forexwill crash. But when the industry is over-protected like ours, the current challenges will be unending. Market force should drive the price.

“If the refineries are working to a capacity of 70 percent, the product will not be more than N130 per litre. We should focus on making the refineries work because by the time you keep on importing, forex challenges will keep on recurring and there would no head way.

FUEL-Price-changeFUEL-Price-change“The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, should ensure that the refineries are working and government should grant all support needed to ensure that they work, so the country can avert all of the turbulence hitting the petroleum sector as well as the economy.

“The best way to do that is for the government to hands off, and sometime coming in to intervene when the need arises.”

He, however, urged the Federal Government to urgently encourage the setting up of modular refineries in the country as a spur for the refining of crude product.

“The government should encourage the installation of modular refineries in virtually all local government. For example, Ivory Coast has one refinery which is old and yet it is working and giving them the satisfaction to an extent,’’ he added.

He noted that the association planned to invest on building a modular refinery to assist refining of the product.

“We had brought some investors to Nigeria. In Kogi, we had been given land to build a modular refinery,” he said.

He further called for a good policy in the sector to drive the needed investment for growth.

Okonkwo said: “The body language of the government must be seen. An enabling environment should be guaranteed and encouraged for investors to harness.”

Meanwhile, a renowned Petroleum Economist and President, Nigerian Association for Energy Economics, NAEE, Professor Wumi Iledare, has blamed marketers for misunderstanding the intentions of government when it hiked the price of petrol in May.

He said: “The concept of fixing a price at N145 per litre introduced by government in May this years was actually suppose to be a ‘price feeling’ and not ‘price floor.’’

Ambode Donates 50 New Buses To BRT To Cushion Hike In Fuel Price

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The Lagos State Government says mass transit buses will cushion any effect that removal of subsidy and subsequent increase petrol price will have on Lagosians.

The state Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, therefore, on Monday donated 50 mass transit buses into the operations of the Bus Rapid Transit scheme.

The Managing Director, Primero Transport Limited, Fola Tinubu, said the governor’s gesture would not only cushion the effect of fuel price, it would stabilise transport fares.

He spoke in the Ikorodu area of the state during the inauguration of the buses.

Tinubu said the company would not increase its fares despite the prompt service that the new injection guarantees for commuters.

He said, “The introduction of the 50 buses was undertaken by the governor to reduce the effect of the hike in fuel price on Lagosians in the hope that more people in Ikorodu and its environs will enjoy the BRT service while leaving their vehicles at home.

“This will go a long way in reducing traffic to the road users and waiting time at various terminals.

“The multiplier effect of this development is the creation of more employment opportunities for drivers, fleet officers, inspectors, mechanics and ticketers, among others, for the smooth running and operations of the scheme.”

 

Credit: Punch

I Never Said Petrol Will Sell For N40 Per Litre– Tam David-West

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A former Minister of Petroleum Re­sources, Prof Tam David-West, has denied newspaper reports, Daily Sun not included, that Buhari will crash the price of petrol to N40 per litre.

The Professor of Virology who spoke in a telephone interview at the weekend, said at no time did he ever made such com­ment, regretting that he must have been misquoted.

Rather, he said, he only canvassed that some 14 items currently listed in the petrol pricing template be re­moved as that would help crash pet­rol price to N40.

David-West said some of the 14 items included, Petroleum Equal­ization Fund (PEF) charges, trans­porters margin, lithering expenses among other charges, currently con­tained in the pricing template tend to increase the cost of petrol.

The former Minister said it was shameful that Nigeria is still in­volved in importation of petroleum products despite having four refin­eries capable of meeting the energy needs of the country.

He equally took a swipe at those pushing for sustenance of subsidy re­gime, saying the scheme was a fraud that should not be encouraged by all Nigerians.

‘‘I signed the contract for the re­finery in Port Harcourt in 1985. And I can tell you that there is nothing wrong with our refineries. But the is­sue is just that some people bent on sabotaging the efforts of government are frustrating plans to ensure that the refineries produce at optimal ca­pacity. David-West equally berated proponents of the co-locating of re­fineries, arguing that such idea was a waste of resources.

‘‘How can you co-locate refiner­ies within the existing refineries that NNPC has tagged as scraps? For you to co-locate refineries that means the refineries still have value and can be efficient,’’ he said.

Recall that NNPC had recently said that it was targeting to increase the nation’s refining capacity from 445,000 barrels per day(bpd) to 650,000 (bpd)

The Corporation said the move was aimed at reducing fuel importa­tion in the foreseeable future, adding that nine companies have submitted bids for the co-location of new re­fineries within the complexes of its three existing refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.

Credit: Sun

?PPMC Adopts Measures To End Fuel Scarcity

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Mrs Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, the Managing Director, Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) said measures were being taken to ensure end to fuel scarcity across the country.
Nnamdi- Ogbue made this known while addressing newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.

“Right now, we have about eight vessels coming in, each of which ranges between 30,000 to 40,000 metric tonnes capacity, and these should be more than enough to ensure sufficiency.
” On Wednesday alone, over one thousand trucks were loaded and trucked out by the majors marketers and PPMC, ” she said.

According to her, about 400 intervention trucks are being used to service marketers.
This, she said, was to ensure fuel supply in their filling stations, especially in Abuja and Lagos, where they consume about 60 per cent of daily national consumption figures.
Nnamdi-ogbue further noted that there were people trucking out fuel from Port Harcourt, Warri, Ogarra, Calabar as alternative sources for Lagos.
She assured that all efforts were being made to ensure that by weekend, all these problems of scarcity would be a thing of the past.
“We share in the pains of all motorists, all Nigerians,” she said.
Nnamdi-Ogbue said efforts were being intensified to break the strong hold of corruption and all those engaged in sharp practices.
“Right now, more than 300 trucks should be arriving Abuja and we are tracking them to ensure that they duly arrive here.
“We have our staff all over, monitoring to make sure that the volumes brought in are actually discharged,” she said.
She noted that in most of the major or strategic stations, products were sold twenty-four hours, adding that this will help to bring about normalcy in the system.

 

(NAN)

New Pump Price For Petrol As Announced By PPPRA, See How Much Has Been Reduced From Old Price

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The Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) in Nigeria has announced the implementation of the revised components of the Petroleum Pricing Template for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

In a statement by the Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Mr Farouk Ahmed, the pump price was put at 86.50 Naira per litre, a price the agency said was in line with the prevailing market trend.

“This new price regime is with effect from January 1, 2016,” the statement read.

According to Mr Ahmed, the reversed template was approved by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

The statement said that the major components of the pricing template affected by this review were Traders Margin, Lightering Expenses, Nigeria Port Authority, Jetty Throughput, Storage Charges and Bridging Fund.

Other components revised include Retailers’ Transporters and Dealers Margins.

As contained in the breakdown, the Ex-depot price of PMS shall be 77 Naira per litre while the pump price will be 86.50 Naira per litre.

The new price is a reduction of 50 Kobo from the old price of 87 Naira.

Credit: ChannelsTV

Petrol Will Soon Be Available – NUPENG

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The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas 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.

 

 

(NAN)

FG Currently Not Paying Subsidy On Petrol- Kachikwu

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Dr Ibe Kachikwu Minster of State For Petroleum on SubsidyThe Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, says the Nigerian government has suspended the subsidy on petroleum products as at today, December 27, as a result of the current low price of crude in the international market.

Dr. Kachikwu said the non-payment of subsidy would remain the same, as long as market trends allow.

He told reporters on Sunday in Kaduna that if crude prices increase, there would be a review which would be tackled under the newly introduced price modulation in the sector.

The price modulation, according to the Minister, is not an outright removal of petrol subsidy.

Credit: ChannelsTv

Kaduna Refinery Begins Production Of 3.2 Million Litres Of Petrol Daily

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Kaduna Refining and Petroleum Company has started daily production of 3.2 million litres of petrol, a vloume authorities hope will end queues at fuel service stations across Nigeria.

A statement by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) confirmed that the plant, which commenced production over the weekend with an initial Premium Motor Spirit yield of about 1.5 million litres, has ramped up its 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,” the Corporation stated.

Credit: ChannelsTv

FG Will Modulate Petrol Price Not Subsidy Removal

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The Nigerian government says contrary to speculations, it is not interested in the removal of subsidy on petroleum products, but rather a price modulation that will reduce its involvement in pricing starting 2016.

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, briefed reporters of the government’s position on Thursday.

Dr Kachikwu said a periodical review of the Petroleum Pricing Template and a flexible management of the pricing system would be considered.

He said the review would allow marketers to trade freely and reflect prevailing international price of crude.

According to him, the review will be the key focus in the first quarter of the coming year.

He said the 97 Naira per litre projection would be a cap on the price of fuel with a gradual increment between the band of the current price of 87 Naira and 97 Naira until a fair price is reached in the pricing review.

Credit: ChannelsTv

Fuel Subsidy To Go Next Year, FG To Sell Petrol At N97 Per Litre

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Following increased pressure on revenue and the expenditure profile, the Federal Government has finally yielded to domestic and international pressures to remove fuel subsidy.

This is coming as crude oil prices hit a seven-year low with global reference crude, West Texas Intermediate and Brent trading yesterday at $34.7 and $36.7 per barrel respectively, effectively disrupting Nigeria’s $38 per barrel benchmark for 2016 budget.

The crash has resulted into about N1.45 trillion shortfall in the value of the projected oil output in the international market based on production target increased in the 2016 plan to 2.2 million barrel per day (mbpd), up from actual 1.9 mbpd in 2015.

On official exchange rate of N198/ $1 upon which the revenue projection was based, the value of the total budgeted oil output is $35.14 billion or N6.95 trillion but with the latest price development, the output would now yield $27.8 billion or N5.5 trillion

Credit: Vanguard

Imo Residents Lament Purchase Of Petrol At 200 Naira

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Residents of Owerri, Imo State capital, have been groaning in agony over the lingering fuel crisis across Nigeria.

This is because many of them have had to stay over two days on long queues to buy petrol for 87 Naira per litre at Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) petrol stations.

Other independent petroleum marketers have been selling petrol at the rate of 200 Naira per litre, a situation which the people have bitterly complained about.

They appealed to the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, find a lasting solution to this problem, as it is crippling activities in all sectors in the state.

Credit: ChannelsTv

Kachikwu Orders DPR To Auction Petrol Hoarded In Stations

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The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has directed the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR not to seal off any petrol station but instead to auction petroleum products of any marketer found to be hoarding petroleum products at this time.

Dr Kachikwu, who took a monitoring tour of petrol stations in the federal capital, said that the NNPC was deploying all its available resources to bring down the heightening panic buying and appealed to Nigerians to be patient as they bring the situation under control.

Credit: ChannelsTV

DPR Seals Total’s Depot, Others for Hoarding 46m Litres Of Petrol

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The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on Thursday closed down the depots of Total Nigeria Plc, Dee Jones Limited and Eterna Oil Plc in Ibafon area of Lagos for hoarding over 46 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol.

The agency has also debunked the claims by marketers that there was scarcity of petrol and blamed the tight supply situation on depot owners, who hoard products, thus causing panic buying.

While Total and Eterna Oil were hoarding 13.6 million litres each, when DPR’s surveillance monitoring team visited the depot of Dee Jones which was hoarding about 19.5 million litres.

However, the General Manager of Dee Jones, Mr. Willy Ikeora, denied that the company was hoarding the product in its depot, stressing that they were loading but not as fast as expected by DPR.

The regulatory authority also queried Ascon Oil and ordered the management of the company to appear at the agency’s head office by 3pm yesterday and explain why the company should not be sanctioned for its slow pace of loading tankers, despite the availability of eight million litres in its depot.

Integrated Oil and Gas Limited was also directed to speed up the loading process as the company had up to 10.2 million litres of petrol when the agency’s surveillance monitoring team paid an unscheduled visit to the facility.

Credit: ThisDay

Refineries To Produce 20% Of Petrol Consumed Daily – NNPC

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The 125,000 bpd Warri refinery which resumed last week after maintenance is expected to run at 60,000 bpd, the NATION says.

Group Executive Director of Refining and Petrochemicals, Ian Udoh said six cargoes are expected to be received a month of Nigerian Bonny Light and Escravos crude oil to run 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) or 40 per cent, of Nigeria’s total refining capacity.

Ian-Udoh-360x354.jpg

The Port Harcourt complex will start ramping up over the next two weeks but only the newer of the two plants at the site is functional and at 90,000 bpd versus its 150,000 bpd capacity.

Mr Udoh said he expected to produce 8 million litres a day of petrol, accounting for about 20 per cent of the estimated consumption.

The last refinery to restart will be the Kaduna Refinery as it will take about two more weeks to repair the pipeline bringing crude from the oil-rich delta in the South south.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) hopes that its domestic refineries can cover 20 per cent of domestice product needs, as Nigeria has wholly depended on subsidised fuel imports and crude-for-product swap agreements and suffered acute fuel shortages since February.

Source – www.nigerianbulletin.com

Daily Subsidy On Petrol Increases To N2bn

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The Federal Government’s daily spending on petrol subsidy may have increased to N2.06bn as the pricing template for the product by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency on Sunday put the subsidy at N51.61 per litre.

Based on daily petrol consumption of 40 million litres, the total subsidy cost on the product as of June 11 would amount to N2.06bn at N51.61 per litre, up from N48.15 on June 2.

Subsidy refers to the money paid, usually by the government, to keep prices below what they will otherwise be in a free market system.

Nigeria, which relies on importation for most of its fuel needs as the country’s refineries are in a poor state, has seen a drop in importation of refined petroleum products in recent months, leading to acute scarcity of the products across the country.

Read More: Punch

P/H Refinery Begins Production Of 5m Litres Of Petrol July

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As part of efforts aimed at bringing the persistent fuel scarcity in the country to an end, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that the Port Harcourt refinery is expected to begin production of five million litres of petrol by July after rehabilitating its functionality to 80 per cent capacity.

Group managing director of the corporation, Engr. Joseph Dawha, who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday after a routine inspection of the NNPC’s mega filling stations in Abuja, said the development follows the completion of the Turn Around Maintenance(TAM) of the refinery which would help boost fuel availability.

He also disclosed that the phased TAM for other refineries would be completed within 18 months period, adding that presently, the NNPC has about 1.1 billion litres of fuel which is sufficient to cover for 27 days at a daily consumption level of 40 million litres.

“The Port Harcourt refinery which has reached advanced stage will start receiving crude by the end of this month and start contributing to the availability of products in the country.

“ At the end of 18 months, most of the refineries would have been rehabilitated to a certain level whereby they can actually process crude optimally and make contributions to products availability in the country,” he said.

Dawha added that as a supplier of last resort, the NNPC is presently the only importer of fuel into the country while expressing the hope that other oil marketers would resume import as soon as issues were resolved between them and the federal government.

“In the last five days we have brought 428 trucks of petrol, averaging 85 per cent trucks daily to address the petrol requirement in Abuja and its immediate environs,” he said, adding that arising from the meeting with other stakeholders recently, the NNPC and its downstream subsidiary Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) was committed to ending fuel queues across the country soon.

Also speaking, the PPMC managing director, Haruna Momoh, who renewed appeal against pipeline vandalism said, “We have a robust pipeline network yet we cannot pump products through the pipelines. We have the products but need the distribution network to efficiently put the products in the filling stations.”

Credit: leadership

We Have 1.2bn Litres Of Petrol In Stock- NNPC

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its downstream subsidiary, the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), said they had 1.2 billion litres of petrol in stock.

This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by Ohi Alegbe, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Department, NNPC.

The statement stated that the figure translated to 31 days sufficiency, going by the 40 million litres daily consumption of the product in the country.

It explained that the Managing Director of PPMC, Haruna Momoh, made the announcement in Abuja.

It quoted Haruna as saying that “21 additional vessels laden with petroleum products are in offshore Lagos waiting to berth.

“NNPC has made adequate arrangements to ensure energy sufficiency in the country and reassured motorists that the noticeable queues at the filling stations would thin out in the days ahead.”

Momoh said that the NNPC also had 21 days sufficiency of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) otherwise known as diesel and 18 days sufficiency of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), otherwise known as kerosene.

He said that as part of efforts to ensure petroleum products’ sufficiency and distribution, the NNPC embarked on aggressive Reception Depots rehabilitation in 2011.

“As at today, 18 depots out of the 23 depots have been fully recovered with the exception of Makurdi, Yola and Maiduguri due to the activities of pipeline vandals,” he said.

The PPMC MD disclosed that the corporation suffered petroleum products losses worth N40.8bn through pipeline vandalism in 2014.

He said that no business could survive such a loss and still remained a growing concern.

Momoh said there was a marginal increase in pipeline vandalism, stressing that in 2013, the corporation recorded 3,517 vandalised points but in 2014, the figure increased to 3, 774.

He said that “as at today, 97 pipeline vandals are undergoing prosecution”.

Momoh expressed regret that since the cases started a few years ago, none of the accused persons had been convicted for economic sabotage.

He called on Nigerians from all walks of life, especially those living in communities where the pipelines run through, to protect them in national interest.

Credit: NAN

Finance Minister Pays Importers As City Petrol Queues Grow

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Finance ministry has paid importers 156 billion naira ($790 million) to cover subsidy payments owed from 2014, it said on Thursday, seeking to ease fuel shortages in major cities.

Queues at petrol stations have been growing over the last few weeks and worsened in recent days. A neglected refining system means the country is almost wholly reliant on imports for the 40 million litres per day of gasoline it consumes.

The fuel crisis began in early March when slumping oil prices and an impending general election sent the local currency to record lows, hitting importers who have struggled to open letters of credit with banks. Truckers, unable to discharge tankers, went gone on strike over the cash crunch.

The finance ministry issued Sovereign Debt Notes (SDN) to fuel marketers in March, but banks remained reluctant to issue letters of credit until they matured.

“Even though we had the SDNs, they (banks) never had enough confidence. Now that it has been honoured, they can open L/Cs (letters of credit),” Obafemi Olawore, the executive secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) said.

“We didn’t have the money to place orders and pay contractors, like the truckers … who went on strike.”

The post-dated SDNs of 100 billion naira matured on Thursday, an emailed statement from the finance ministry said, along with an additional 56 billion naira in interest to marketers, which is expected to allow importers to complete their deals.

Oil traders said plenty of product was waiting offshore to discharge but payment uncertainties have held it back.

Despite the payment, another 200 billion naira is still outstanding, which includes foreign exchange from 2014 and 2015 and about 40 billion in subsidies accumulated so far in 2015, Olawore said.

Gasoline is heavily subsidised by the government via the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan’s own efforts to scrap subsidies in early 2012 caused riots. Slow repayment of subsidies has been a problem for the last few years. ($1 = 198.0000 naira)

Reuters

‘Apapa Gridlock May Cause Scarcity Of Fuel’ – NUPENG

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The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has observed that effective distribution of petroleum products through the use of depots outside Lagos would reduce traffic congestion in Apapa.

Chairman of the union, Tokunbo Korodo, who made this statement in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, appealed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to make use of its depots in other states to ease the Apapa traffic gridlock.

He said that the long queues being experienced in Apapa could degenerate into scarcity of petroleum products if not urgently addressed.

Only three out of over 18 depots in Apapa currently have petroleum products. The companies are Capital Oil and Gas, Ibeto Oil and Gas and Integrated Oil and Gas Tank Farms.

“Now that the major oil marketers are not loading products due to unpaid subsidy, the NNPC should quickly use other depots to decongest Apapa.

“If all the tankers in the country come down to Apapa for supply, it will degenerate into scarcity of petroleum products.

“Most of our truck drivers spend more than four days before they could load, which is additional expenses on tank drivers.

“The government should resolve the problem of major oil marketers before it results to petrol scarcity,” he said.

Importation of Petrol Commences

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The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Tuesday directed its members to commence importation of refined petroleum products as the Federal Government had pledged to pay outstanding subsidy.

The National President of IPMAN, Chinedu Okoronkwo, disclosed the directive in Lagos. Okoronkwo said the directive followed assurances from government and to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians from the ongoing national scarcity of petrol.

According to him, we have had series of meeting with government agencies that are saddled with the payment of subsidy claims and we have been assured of prompt payment. “IPMAN members have been instructed to commence importation of petrol into the country to avert the lingering fuel scarcity.

“The Ministers of Petroleum and Finance have assured us of prompt payment of the marketer’s money; we urge Nigerians not to engage in panic buying of petrol as adequate petrol will be in circulation soon,’’ he said.

The IPMAN boss, however, warned its members to desist from hoarding petroleum products, adding that the association’s surveillance teams would monitor compliance nationwide. He said the association would penalise marketers indulging in hoarding of petroleum products and other sharp practices.

Okoronkwo said that joint taskforce by IPMAN and the NNPC had been set up to monitor petrol retailing as part of efforts to stabilise supply. He lauded the programmes of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of NNPC, saying that without them the sanity in the downstream oil sector would not have been possible.

He advised the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to give import licences to serious marketers who were willing to import petrol.

The management of NNPC on Monday began fresh measures to halt artificially induced petrol scarcity in some parts of the country. The corporation said it planned to import more than one billion litres of petrol in March to address short fall in supply.

Credit: NAN

NNPC to Import Over 1bn Litres of Petrol

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The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Monday began fresh measures to halt what it described as artificially induced petrol scarcity noticeable in some parts of the country.

To this end, the corporation said it planned to import more than one billion litres of petrol in March to address short fall in supply

The Group Managing Director (GMD), NNPC Dr Joseph Dawha, in conjunction with the Chief Executive Officers of the NNPC subsidiaries, began detailed monitoring of fuel stations in Abuja.

Others in the exercise are the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Farouk Ahmed, and the Managing Director of Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Haruna Momoh,

Also in the team was the Director of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), George Osahon.

Dawha said the exercise was to checkmate hoarding and panic buying of petrol, particularly in Abuja, Lagos and its environs.

The GMD said there was enough petrol in the nation’s stock to take care of the need of motorists.

He said as the supplier of last resort, the corporation was doing everything within its mandate to alleviate the avoidable hardship caused by the situation.

The Executive Secretary, PPPRA, said the problem was more of artificial because there were enough products.

“The problem we have is not really with the supply because there is enough supply .

“The PPMC has almost more than 800 000 metric tones that will be arriving in the month of March which is over a billion litres in terms of our daily consumption.

“Other marketers are also bringing in their cargo so by the end of the week, hopefully, everything will be clear.

“I think we should just encourage the people to desist from panic buying; things are going to be very okay,” Ahmed said.

The Managing Director of PPMC said the corporation had more than enough of the products in the stock for the entire nation.

Credit: NAN

Senate Slashes Subsidies on Petrol & Kerosene

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The Senate on Wednesday, slashed the allocation for petrol and kerosene subsidies presented by the Ministry of Finance in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2015 – 2017.

The upper chamber, while approving the MTEF, slashed petrol subsidy from N200 billion to N100 billion. It also reduced the subsidy allocated to kerosene from N91.08 billion to N45.52 billion.

Chairman of the Joint Committee on Finance and National Planning; Economic Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, said the reduction was due to the fall in oil prices at the international market. “The joint committee recommends a downward review of subsidy payment for PMS from N200 billion to N100 billion and kerosene from N91.08 billion to N45.52 billion.

“This is as a result of the current low prices in crude oil prices at the international oil market.

“The relevant committees of the National Assembly should through oversight, ensure the full implementation of the proposed kerosene subsidy and the availability and of the product’’, he said.

Makarfi also said the reduction in the subsidy allocations to petrol reflected government’s commitment to transparency and accountability in the entire oil and gas sector. In his remarks, the Senate President, David Mark said there was need for a budget cut across the three arms of government in view of the current economic reality.

Mark said the government must continue with it reform policy in order to promote the growth of the non-oil sector. He expressed delight on the expeditious passage of the MTEF.

Credit: NAN

Petroleum Subsidy Hits N1.2bn

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The subsidy on petrol that the Federal Government will pay has hit 1.2 billion naira after it slashed the price of the product by N10 per litre on January 18, 2015 according to figures from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

The PPPRA, stated that the Expected Open Market Price for petrol, which is the summation of the landing cost plus the subtotal margins, was N101.50, as against the approved retail price of N87 per litre.

This showed that the government will pay about N14.5 as subsidy on every litre of petrol consumed in the country in the past two days that the price of Brent averaged $61 per barrel.

Read More: Punch

#Occupynigeria LAGOS’ GOVERNMENT DEMANDS JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS

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The Lagos State government has filed two suits against the Nigeria Police over citizens shot during the anti-fuel subsidy protests last January.

In the first suit ID/153m/2012 filed at the High Court of Lagos State on behalf of those who sustained gun shot wounds on the same day; the state prayed the court to compel the respondents to issue unreserved apologies to the applicants in two national newspapers and electronic media.

Joined in the suit were the Inspector General of Police, CSP Segun Fabunmi, and the Attorney-General of the Federation.

The applicants; Chizoba Odoh, Samuel Egbujor, Abubakar Alimi, and Joy Monday; sustained various degrees of injuries after the trigger-happy Mr. Fabunmi opened fire on them.

In addition, the state asked the court to order that the sum of N100 million be awarded as damages to each of the applicants by the respondents for psychological trauma, mental and emotional torture, loss of income and employment, among others.

In the second suit ID/154m/2012; the state government prayed the court for an order for the enforcement of the fundamental right of life of Ademola Samuel Abe.

Ademola Samuel Abe was shot on January 9 by Mr. Fabunmi, a Divisional Police Officer, during the protests.

The suit filed on behalf of Adebayo Abe, the deceased’s elder brother, asked the court to order the payment of the sum of N200 million jointly and severally against the respondents as compensation for the violation of the fundamental human right to life of Mr. Abe.

Speaking after the burial ceremony of Ademola Samuel Abe, whose remains were interred on Wednesday in Lagos; Omotola Rotimi, the Director of the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) told journalists that they would get a hearing date “very soon.”

“The Directorate of Public Prosecution will take over the criminal case, the OPD is doing the civil case on the violation of their rights,” said Mrs. Rotimi.

“It is only in the civil suit that they can get compensation in monetary terms; the criminal case is just for the person to get punishment.