The association said it was unfortunate that while some motorists and other consumers struggled to get fuel at less than N200 after queuing endlessly at filling stations, others bought fuel at about N300 as being sold by many filling stations across the country – far above the official price.

In a statement signed by its national president, Comrade  Rufus Olusesan and general secretary,                     Comrade Dele  Ojo, PERESSA said the fuel scarcity had a serious debilitating impact on all sectors of the economy and had been causing great suffering for the Nigerian working people.

It described petrol as a primary source of energy for both commercial and domestic endeavors in the country.

It said its members were finding it hard to report to work on a daily basis as a result of the scarcity, high prices of PMS and increased transport cost.

It added that some workers now trek to work on a daily basis, a situation which it descrbed as intolerable.

It therefore called for a reversal of the hike in the prices of petrol.

“As a union, we hereby demand immediate reversal of the hiked price of PMS to the official price and firm measures to halt hoarding and guarantee the availability of petroleum products at affordable prices for the sake of Nigerian workers and the poor who can hardly afford the increase in transport fares due to the scarcity and high price of PMS,” said the association.

It stated further: “It has come to our attention that President Buhari has set up a committee to look at the issues causing the scarcity. As far as we are concerned, this is a step that is too little and too late. We do not need a committee to know where the problem lies. Much before now, organized labour as well as civil society have dissected the problems of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and put forward recommendations which have been largely ignored by successive government in the country.

“For us, the explanation linking the lingering fuel crisis to logistics and foreign exchange problems – as contained in the statement of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and as explained by some government officials – is untenable, and we maintain that the blame for this crisis must be placed on the reckless handing over of the oil and gas sector to local and multinational profiteers and at the doorstep of the successive capitalist governments that continued to stick to  pro-rich energy policies that have converted Nigeria’s endowment in oil and gas resource to a curse.

“We note that the  domination of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector by private profiteers, just as in the privatization of power and other sectors, have only led to one crisis after the other, as against the false promise of improved quality and access to petrol and other associated products during the privatization process. Rather than take a cue from past experiences and invest in the resuscitation of the nation’s public refineries, the present government is hinging its hope of resolving the crisis on the completion of a refinery owned by Aliko Dangote – a die-hard capitalist whose sole purpose of building it is to amass as much profit as possible. Such false hope is baseless!”

PERESSA said to guarantee availability of petroleum products at affordable prices, “we call on the government to end the domination of the oil and gas sector by private interests whose unbridled profit-motive, corruption and government inefficiency are the reasons for the perennial crisis of fuel scarcity and hike in prices. In addition, we demand the public ownership of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector under workers and consumers democratic control and management.”

The post Fuel: PERESSA decries scarcity of product, hike in price appeared first on Frontpageng.

Mr Clement Isong, Chief Executive Officer of MOMAN, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Lagos on Saturday, against the backdrop of the current scarcity of petrol and long queues at filling stations.

Isong said the association had been holding a daily logistic emergency meeting with the downstream management of NNPCL on how to improve the supply of petrol.

According to him, the collaboration with NNPCL would enhance the distribution of petroleum products in the country.

“We are doing depot to depot check-in and check-out to enhance efficiency, also having logistic supply meetings with NNPCL.

“There is also collaboration among our members to cushion supply to various MOMAN’s stations.

“We arranged it in a way that any MOMAN member who does not have product can pick from fellow members’ depot to minimise supply gaps,” he said.

Isong also said the effort was to improve the supply of petrol at filling  stations across the country.

“NNPCL had an operational meeting with MOMAN to ensure that products are effectively distributed across the country.

“The logistics meeting was to ensure adequate distribution of products to stations across the country,” he added.

The helmsman said MOMAN members would be working late and during the weekend to bridge product supply gaps.

He said MOMAN had been pushing out more products than it normally did.

He added that the scarcity was as a result of delay experienced at the point of receiving products from offshore to onshore at the port.

He, however, said the logistics challenge had been resolved and members were currently trucking out products.

However, the oil marketers and petroleum depot operators, under the aegis of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPPMAN, called for quick intervention by the federal government.

Its chairman, Mrs Winifred Akpani, urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, to comply with the federal government’s directive to end payment of port charges in dollars for petroleum products brought into the country.

Akpani maintained that accessing forex through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, window would enhance their capacity, facilitate seamless supply of petrol, and birth a regime of sustainability in terms of storage, distribution and supply across the nation.

“DAPPMAN hereby calls on the government to establish a level playing field in the sector by giving petroleum marketers access to forex at the CBN exchange rate for their operations,” said Akpani.

He emphasised that accessing FX at the official rate would boost fuel supply across the country.

She added that the burden of sourcing forex through the parallel market for transactions domiciled in Nigeria had left petroleum marketers in dire straits.

She said, “Accessing dollars for our operations has been an insurmountable hurdle for petroleum marketers.

“The difference between CBN exchange rate and the parallel market exchange rate continues to get wider by the day.”

Some filling stations owned by major oil marketers were seen selling petrol at regulated price of N170 per litre, while stations belonging to IPMAN members sell between N220 and N240 per litre.

Most filling stations that have fuel collect N100 at the entrance before vehicles are allowed to enter filling stations, and additional N100 to sell product to vehicles owners.

Black marketers have taken advantage of the situation to hoard products and sell to desperate motorists at exorbitant prices.

Source: NAN

The post Fuel scarcity: MOMAN, NNPCL collaborate to improve distribution appeared first on Frontpageng.

The threat followed the persistent fuel scarcity being witnessed in the FCT and its environs as well as in other parts of the country.

Mr Farouk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, gave the warning on Monday during a joint inspection on fuel stations in Abuja.

The exercise was carried out in collaboration with some top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC, Petroleum Pipeline and Marketing Company, PPMC, and the NMDPRA.

He said the inspection aimed at taking action to enforce the regulations by following up warning given to the oil marketing companies, particularly those selling over the official price of N148 kobo.

He explained that the pump price of PMS was still N165 per litre and remained sacrosanct, adding that nothing had changed and government had not made any other decision on that.

He said it would take an action against defaulters because based on its engagement with the Depots and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPMAN, and Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria, MOMAN, they were warned against over price at the depot.

He said as a regulator, there were series of actions it could take which included withdrawal of service from a particular depot, shutting and sanctioning them because nobody was above the law.

According to him, the inspection had been an on-going exercise; the authority had seven teams going round in different locations while NNPC has its own teams going round in many locations with support from the security agencies.

“We are actually trying to monitor the dispensing to ensure that all the stations with petrol are dispensing all their trucks to reduce the long queues and ensure efficiency in service.

“We are monitoring the depot sales also, checking the number of truck that loaded; this is a serious fact which we look at.

“There has been a lot of improvement in the distribution of PMS, we have gone round the Airport Road and seen a lot of stations selling and discharging fuel.

“The queues are not long like before and the average trucks we have received in Abuja in the last three days are about 140 trucks against 70 trucks to 80 trucks received before; so there is a lot of improvement.

“Credit also goes to transporters because now they are reacting to the president’s offer of additional N10 as an incentive on their transportation charges. At least we are seeing the improvement,’’ he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the upward review in freight rate of oil transporters to alleviate challenges associated with PMS distribution nationwide.

The revised freight rate of PMS took effect from June 1, still maintaining the current regulated pump price of N165 per litre.

Ahmed explained that the president in his wisdom increased the freight rate of transporters by N10 which was a huge jump from N10.46 kobo to additional N10 and now N20.46 kobo

Ahmed said that was just to show that the transporters could still transport the product across the nation without loss of revenue which they were complaining about.

On black marketers, he said it was engaging with key oil marketers and had advised them to warn their station managers to stop selling to jerry can peddlers because it was one of the causes of the problems.

“Once they do not comply, we are going to shut and deal with that particular station affected,’’ he said.

Mr Adeyemi Adetunji, Group Executive Director, Downstream, NNPC Ltd. reassured Nigerians that there was adequate supply of fuel.

“Today we have 1.9 billion litres of PMS; Lagos is cleared in a couple of days; we will clear the queues in Abuja,’’ Adetunji added.

The fuel stations inspected were Shafa Energy, Shema, Ardova Plc. and NIPCO fuel stations on Lugbe – Airport Road.

Some of the motorists at the stations expressed excitement with the availability of fuel as against previous days and urged the government to sustain it to ease the queues and difficulties being witnessed.

The inspection also had in attendance Mr Isiyaku Abdullahi, Managing Director, PPMC, Mr Garbadeen Muhammad, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC Ltd. and Mrs Abdulkadir Maijiddah, Abuja Regional Coordinator, NMDPRA, among others.

Source: NAN

The post Fuel scarcity: FG to sanction erring stations, maintains N165 pump price appeared first on Frontpageng.

The intervention is one of the measures suggested by participants at the strategic stakeholders meeting held in Abuja on Monday to address of petroleum tanker crashes.

At the meeting held at the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, National Headquarters, Abuja, the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, represented the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

Also present were representatives of Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria, MOMAN, and the National Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting by the spokesman of the FRSC, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, the stakeholders said the government should use a similar template as applicable to pharmaceutical companies and other sectors of the economy at the peak of COVID -19 .

He added that it was also suggested that as a long term solution to the safe, efficient and sustainable transportation of petroleum products across the country, there was need for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to re-activate failed and vandalised pipelines in the country.

That it was said would reduce the burden of transportation of petroleum products by road.

“Members further called for a timeline to be set for the enforcement of the maximum load capacity of 45,000 litres of petroleum products by trucks operating from the Tank Farms across the country,” he added.

Kazeem disclosed too that the meeting resolved that enforcement of all safety standards including anti-skid, anti-rollover and anti-spill (safety valves) be prioritised within a given time frame as outlined in the similar communiqué reached in 2018.

He said it was suggested that government should consider issuing directives on enforcement of the 10-year policy on importation of trucks so that any articulated vehicle beyond 10 years of age should not be allowed into the country.

Part of the resolutions, according to him was also that FRSC, MOMAN and NARTO should organise a joint enlightenment campaign for articulated vehicle drivers including production and placement of jingles in different languages on radio and television stations, production of handbills and also convene a press conference within two weeks.

The resolutions were endorsed on behalf of the relevant stakeholders by Clement Isong and Aloga Ogbogo, executive secretaries of MOMAN and NARTO respectively and the Corps Marshal of FRSC.

The post Petrol tanker crash: FRSC, MOMAN, NARTO suggest way out appeared first on Frontpageng.

A press release by the corporation’s spokesman, Dr. Kennie Obateru, stated that the stakeholders gave the commendation at a Downstream stakeholders’ meeting which held at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.

Speaking at the meeting, the President of MOMAN, Mr. Tunji Oyebanji, said the Federal Government had displayed utmost pragmatism by applying economic solution to the age-long challenges in the Downstream rather than the political solutions applied in the past which were not sustainable.

He commended the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, for extending the engagement to the leaders of oil workers’ unions who have always been opposed to deregulation and called on them to adopt a different approach to the issues this time around.

“This is the first time we are having NUPENG and PENGASSAN in the meeting. This underlines the style of the GMD, I commend him. We can’t do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result,” the MOMAN president stated.

On her part, the Vice President of Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPPMAN, Hajia Amina Maina, said the subsidy regime was of no benefit to anyone and commended the GMD for the engagement.

All the stakeholders present, including the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, NUPENG, and PENGASSAN, pledged their support for the efforts of the Federal Government and NNPC to ensure a viable and sustainable Downstream Petroleum Sector.

Speaking earlier, the GMD NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, disclosed that concrete steps had been taken to address the main concerns of marketers, especially the issue of availability of forex, stressing that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had already taken the first step of merging all forex windows to have a unified exchange rate.

“It is really not in our interest to be the sole importer of PMS in the country. We have taken definite steps to exit the situation. This is a definite step taken and the details would be communicated to stakeholders like MOMAN, DAPMAN, IPMAN and others outside this forum,” Mallam Kyari stated.

On the issue of subsidy on forex for marketers, he explained that the government spent N2.13trillion from 2016 to 2019, describing the situation as unsustainable and unprogressive.

Mallam Kyari said there were plans by the government to inject about N2.7 trillion into the economy to stimulate production, stabilise the exchange rate and cushion the inflationary effect of the pump price increase.

He also revealed that in response to the concerns raised recently by members of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, over the state of roads, especially those on the Niger State axis, the Federal Government had commenced aggressive road repair works to allay their fears.

The NNPC helmsman said that measures had been put in place to ensure adequate supply of petroleum products for the end of year festivities and the projected increase in movement of people across the length and breadth of the country.

He said the Federal Government was keen on driving the deregulation programme to create value for the country and ensure that Nigerians enjoyed the benefits.

In his remarks, the Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Mr. Sarki Auwalu, who was represented by the agency’s Assistant Director, Depots, Products and Jetties, Mr. Bashir Sadiq, said government was interested in opening up the Downstream Sector, adding that the DPR was in support of NNPC’s initiatives in the sector.

The post MOMAN, other downstream players hail FG, pledge support for deregulation appeared first on Frontpageng.