• NNPC moves to tackle scarcity
• Buhari seeks stability of oil prices
• Brent crude trades at $35.10 a barrel
WITH long queues of vehicles at filling stations, Nigerians are again
contending with the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise
known as petrol.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has stressed the need for
members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and
non-members to cooperate and find a common ground to stabilise crude oil
prices.
He spoke as brent crude traded at $35.10 a barrel. Pipeline
disruption in Nigeria is expected to boost prices of crude oil as it has
removed more than 400,000 barrels per day from the market for at least
the next two weeks.
When The Guardian visited major roads in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, Kaduna
and other cities at the weekend, it was discovered that only a few
petrol stations were selling the product while the majority were shut
down.
As at yesterday evening, the number of filling stations selling fuel
had dropped drastically, leaving long queues of customers at the few
outlets that were selling above the regulated price of N86.50 per litre.
All the filling stations along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Oshodi-Apapa
Expressway and Airport Road in Lagos, shut their businesses to
customers, claiming to be out of stock.
Major filling stations operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) on Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway witnessed long
queues as some motorists slept at the filling stations in a desperate
bid to buy petrol at the N86.50 per litre.
It was only the NNPC mega station along new Otukpo road in Benue
State that had the product which was sold at the regulated price.
Others, like Rainoil Oil at the Modern Market Junction, Total filling
station located along Kashim Ibrahim road and opposite Federal Road
Safety Commission (FRSC) office, were either not selling at all or
selling at above the approved price.
Hawkers were taking advantage of the scarcity to sell the product to
desperate buyers for as much as N600 to N700 per litre as against the
official rate of N86.50k.
Though the NNPC has assured that it was doing everything possible to
ensure petrol is available in every part of the country, it was learnt
that the current scarcity may not be unconnected with the corporation’s
alleged delay in signing an oil swap agreement.
Some refineries were said to have met with NNPC officials in Abuja
and London over the past month, promising that they could quickly move
vessels with petrol to Nigeria. But negotiations are taking longer than
expected, leaving a gap in imports.
NNPC said it opted for “the more efficient Direct Sale-Direct
Purchase (DSDP) alternative, which allows for direct sale of crude oil
by the corporation as well as direct purchase of petroleum products from
credible international refineries.”
The corporation explained that it opted for this position after
“evaluation exercise of pre-qualified bidders revealed that most of the
44 companies earlier shortlisted for the next stage of the tender
process only had affiliations to refineries abroad, a situation which
introduces toll on the value chain.”
The NNPC got approval to import 75 per cent of the country’s petrol
needs, while the major and independent marketers got the remaining 25
per cent import permit.
The Guardian learnt that the situation has been made worse by the
Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) policy on forex, that allegedly makes it more
difficult for them to import the 25 per cent slot. An independent
marketer said the group had not been able to import fuel partly due to
the inability to source forex. “We depend on NNPC to get product and it
is like the corporation is finding it hard to meet the petrol need of
the country. We have always said that NNPC alone cannot take full
responsibility of fuel import and nobody listened to us. The government
needs to encourage others by providing an appropriate policy which will
protect us to import,” the marketer said.
NNPC said in a statement that it had deployed additional trucks of
petrol to arrest the emerging queues in some fuel stations in the
Federal Capital Territory.
In a statement by Group General Manager , Public Affairs Division,
Ohi Alegbe, NNPC explained that it had increased the number of fuel
trucks to Abuja and environs from the usual average of 160 per day to
250 trucks (8.25 million litres) to arrest the lull experienced due to
last weekend’s House of Assembly re-run election in Niger State which
affected truck movement from the Suleja depot.
It was learnt that the force majeure declared by the Shell Petroleum
Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) on Forcados oil export
following disruption in production caused by the spill on the subsea
crude export pipeline is expected to reduce crude oil glut at least in
the next two weeks.
The shutdown of Forcados terminal, which is one of Nigeria’s biggest
terminals with capacity to export 400,000 barrels a day and pipeline
outage in Iraq would definitely help to remove about 800,000 barrels and
boost prices in the next few weeks before the repair work is completed,
according to an analyst.
President Buhari who spoke at a bilateral meeting with the Sheikh
Tamim Bin Hammad Al-Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar, described the
market situation in the industry, which has seen oil prices plummeting
by 70 per cent since mid-2014, as “totally unacceptable.’’
Besides, Nigeria and the State of Qatar yesterday in Doha signed a
Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) to pave the way for direct
flights between major cities of both countries.
On the need for sustained efforts at stabilising oil market, Buhari
said: “As members of OPEC and Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), our
relations in the areas of oil and gas, which our two nations heavily
rely on, need to be enhanced and coordinated for the benefit of our
people.
“The current market situation in the oil industry is unsustainable
and totally unacceptable. We must cooperate both within and outside our
respective organisations to find a common ground to stabilise the
market, which will be beneficial to our nations.’’
Buhari who is on the second day of his state visit to Qatar used the
occasion of his address to the Emir to commend the existing cordial
bilateral relations between both countries and invited prospective
Qatari investors to take advantage of the abundant opportunities in
Nigeria and invest in the key areas of energy, agriculture, real estate
development, banking and finance.
He assured prospective investors of government protection of their
persons and investment, noting that in the course of his visit, the
delegations from Nigeria and Qatar would formalise at least two
bilateral agreements to boost economic cooperation between both
countries.
Buhari commended the role Qatar was playing in resolving the Syrian
crisis, the Palestinian cause and efforts in reconstructing Gaza.
“The conflicts in Yemen and Syria with their attendant humanitarian
crisis need genuine international effort to solve. Nigeria as a
peace-loving country identifies with the State of Qatar in all her peace
efforts in the world to end terrorist activities.
“Nigeria is a victim of terrorism. It is with heavy heart that I
stand before you and say activities of Boko Haram have led to loss of
many lives and displacement of innocent people in our dear nation.
“We, however, take pride to inform you that since our coming to
power, Boko Haram has been systematically decimated and is in no
position to cause serious threat to our development programmes.
“I wish to reiterate that Nigeria rejects violence and extremism in
all their ramifications, and assure your Highness that we are with the
State of Qatar in your efforts to fight terrorism and injustice in your
region and in the world at large,’’ he said.
Popular News
-
Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer affecting the membrane lining of the lungs and abdomen. Malignant mesothelioma is the most serious o...
-
Veteran actress, Kate Henshaw has taken to Instagram to share adorable photos with her daughter. The thespian shared photos of them rock...
-
A witness has said neither Atiku Abubakar nor President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) should be declared as presiden...
-
The Monkeypox disease has been declared as a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation, on Saturday. The global health bod...
-
The daughter of Pele, Kely Nascimento, who is apparently distraught at his passing, has confirmed her father's death at the age of 82...
-
The United States has announced that starting March 1, 2023, it will increase visitor visa validity from 24 months to 60 months for Niger...
-
Cristiano Ronaldo allegedly gave his agent Jorge Mendes an ultimatum to seal a move to either Bayern Munich or Chelsea last summer or be...
-
A broadcast journalist with DAAR Communications Plc, Ms Ijeoma Osamor, testified on Friday at the Presidential Election Petition Court (P...
-
Happy New Month Nigeria! Welcome to the month of June. As the world searches for a respite from all its troubles since 2020 began, one can ...
-
Drivers of ride-hailing apps in the country, Uber, Bolt, LagRide and Indriver, have embarked on a nationwide strike on Wednesday, June 7. ...
-
Italy have been crowned champions of the 2020 European Championship after defeating England 3-2 in penalties on Sunday night, July 11. ...
-
“Every improvement contributing to your outstanding experience is our daily motivation.” - Remitano Every product and feature on the Rem...
-
For the quarter, added 537,000 residential and small enterprise business internet customers versus 380,000 within the prior year quarter....
-
SMS marketing is a marketing channel which allows businesses to message customers with marketing messages through SMS, or more commonly kn...
-
Breaking news about iceland country incredible but true if you are interested read the full story iceland team was able to achieve an ...
-
Happy New Month Nigeria! Welcome to the month of June. As the world searches for a respite from all its troubles since 2020 began, one can ...
-
An Israeli professor has claimed that coronavirus will disappear after 70 days with or without intervention. The unproven claims were ma...
-
The Remitano founding team has always maintained the belief and vision that blockchain and cryptocurrencies are a big step forward for s...
-
Would you believe it if someone tells you that cayenne pepper has the power to stop a heart attack within a minute? Believe it or not, thi...
-
Apparently, ginger, a well-known spice we frequently add to different dishes to enhance the flavor, has the power to prevent cancer. But, i...
- bitcoin
- bitcoin mining
- Coronavirus
- dr anu nigeria
- coronavirus china
- Benefit Of Ginger Water
- Bobrisky
- Buhari
- coronavirus cure
- benefits of drinking milk
- Biafran War
- coronavirus death rate
- coronavirus outbreak
- dede one day mansion
- coronavirus update
- History of Biafra
- How To Make Ginger Water
- eri
- How to save your phone battery
- is 5g dangerous
- Kobe Bryant
- Jennifer Aniston
- kobe bryant family
- latest nigeria news paper
- kobe bryant wife
- latest on nigeria news
- naija news
- Malignant mesothelioma
- nigeria news
- Mesothelioma survival rates
- newspaper online in nigeria
- nigeria news breaking
- nigeria news headline today
- nigeria news of the day
- nigeria news paper online
- nigeria newspaper
- nigeria news paper today
- nigeria news today & breaking
- nigeria newspaper online
- nigerianewspaper
- nigeria newspapers
- Regina Daniels
- online dating scams
- Side Effects Of Eating Corn
- t mobile data usage
- online nigeria news
- what is tiger nut
- tiger nuts
- Tyson Fury
0 comments:
Post a Comment