By Chika Izuora, Lagos
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, said it will make foreign exchange, Forex arrangement for marketers to enable them bring in more cargoes of Automated Gas Oil, (Diesel) as scarcity of the product refuses to abate.
The plan is part of measures taken by the Corporation to deal with scarcity of products, including petrol and Kerosene which is now out of reach of many households.
The NNPC assured that current initiative would help sustain supply of Premium Motor Spirit, (petrol), Automotive Gas Oil, diesel, and Dual Purpose Kerosene, DPK, otherwise called kerosene, nationwide.
To achieve its new measure, the Corporation announced increase in its February supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), by six additional cargoes to the existing national PMS sufficiency of over 32 days; immediate importation of three additional Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) cargoes before the end of February; and an order for massive 250 trucks per day loading of AGO and DPK, from across the three NNPC refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri.
Acting NNPC Group Managing Director, Engr. Saidu Mohammed, who chaired an emergency meeting on the Corporation’s downstream operations where the measures were taken, said NNPC would transmit the full list of marketers involved in off-taking AGO and DPK to the Department of State Services (DSS) for appropriate follow-up by the security agency to forestall possibility of any stakeholders engaging in foul play.
Engr. Mohammed said the move to provide additional PMS cargoes of 37,000 tonnes each was to give further comfort and stability to the robust petrol sufficiency nationwide.
Other measure the Corporation has taken, apart from ramping up fuel supply nationwide, is an expansion of daily truck load-out of petrol, diesel and kerosene, even during weekends to ensure improved products delivery to the hinterland.
The Corporation would provide additional marine logistics, all geared toward improving products movements from offshore to land, to cater for additional PMS supply nationwide.
Engr. Mohammed charged downstream operators to immediately implement measures that would sustain adequate supply and distribution of petrol, diesel and kerosene to every nook and cranny of the Country.
NNPC has also made concerted efforts to pay the outstanding bill owed Duke Oil, the Corporation’s trading arm, for products importation, even as it has put in place modalities for transparent accounting practice.
As part of measures to sustain products supply stability across the Country, NNPC planned to obtain, from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), an AGO Foreign Exchange (FOREX) intervention to marketers as well as Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Associations (DAPPMAN).
Already, the Corporation would convert the existing issued $144m PMS FOREX intervention to AGO.
NNPC has also developed a comprehensive and clear deadline for the completion of the Atlas Cove-Mosimi pipeline and commenced shipment of AGO to Calabar.
Motorists and other consumers of petroleum products across the Country are enjoined not to engage in panic buying as NNPC has over 32 days sufficiency for petrol, and adequate volumes of diesel and petrol to meet their demand.