Fuel Scarcity
Looms as Import
Volumes Drop This Day (Lagos)
February 5, 2012 Ads by Google The Affordable - Healthcare Answer - Qualified Health - Call: 1-888-580-2333 It was learnt that the
Pipeline and Products
Marketing Company, a
subsidiary of the Nigerian
National Petroleum
Corporation, has become the major importer of
petrol into the country,
with most major and
independent marketers
suspending imports until
further notice. Confirming this, an
executive with a major oil
marketing firm informed
THISDAY that petrol
imports by private sector
operators had dropped by as much as 40 percent
in the wake of the
ongoing probe of the fuel
subsidy regime following
the protests that greeted
the deregulation of petrol pricing on January 1 and
the suspension of the
policy two weeks later. The official, who pleaded
anonymity, said oil
marketer were importing
less fuel now as a
precautionary step owing
to the uncertainties that have arisen from the
probe of the petroleum
industry and subsidy
regime by both the
National Assembly and
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Besides, oil marketers
have outstanding claims
that the federal
government is yet to
settle, he added. "Government has to be
categorical on the
settlement of legitimate
subsidy claims going
forward. Oil marketers
have stopped importing due to uncertainties. "They have to be certain
that the subsidy scheme
will cover all legitimate
claims before they can
participate in the
importation of fuel under the current regime," he
said. But as oil marketers fret,
the House of Represen-
tatives committee probing
the management of fuel
subsidies is expected to
conclude its ongoing investigation into the
irregularities that have
characterised the subsidy
regime this week. THISDAY investigations,
however, showed that
petrol queues have
indeed started building up
at many filling stations in
some parts of the country, including Abuja,
with the product selling at
between N100 to N120
per litre, far above the
approved pump price of
N97 per litre. According a cargo chart
made available to this
newspaper showing the
discharge of petrol
cargoes as at last Friday,
of all the private jetties in Lagos, it was only BOVAS
that discharged about
10,000 metric tonnes of
petrol into a depot. However, no vessel
berthed at the Ibafo jetty.
The situation was no
different at Fisheries jetty
used by NIPCO, and the
Dantata jetty used by MRS. Also, the Capital oil jetty,
which is one of the busiest
in Lagos, was said to have
no vessel discharging
petrol at its depot. There were fears that the
drop in fuel importation
could have affected the
nation's fuel strategic
reserves of 52 days. However, at Techno jetty,
about 5,000 metric tonnes
were said to be in bound
(expected). The same was
applicable to Calabar and
Port Harcourt jetties. Similarly, at the SBM jetty
45,000 metric tonnes was
being discharged last
Friday, and another jetty
was discharging 33,000
metric tonnes. According to a source at
the Nigerian Ports
Authority, all the
products were PPMC
deliveries and none for
private oil marketers. Meanwhile, some oil
marketers have
maintained that they are
being owed several
billions of naira in unpaid
subsidies by the federal government. "Since PPMC controls over
40 percent of petrol
imports into the country
and it is the major
importer at the moment, it
tells you that scarcity is imminent if something
urgent is not done. "There is no way that
only PPMC can meet the
daily fuel demand
requirements of the
country and they know
that fact," said one marketer Saturday. According to him, no oil
importer, after many of
them had been accused of
wrong doing in public,
would like to stake his
resources without reassurance from the
government that it will be
reimbursed under the
subsidy regime. "Some of us had
outstanding receivables
from the government for
last year's imports. Then
the order by the House of
Representatives to government not to pay till
further notice has added
to the uncertainties," he
said. He said the House order,
coupled with EFCC's probe
into the management of
the subsidy fund, is
enough to discourage oil
marketers from getting heavily involved in fuel
imports, so that they do
not get their fingers
burnt. However, a member of
the House of
Representatives
committee probing the
management of fuel
subsidy has disclosed that the committee is expected
to wrap up its
investigation into the
subsidy regime this week. The member, who
preferred not to be
named, said yesterday
that before winding
down its activities, more
oil marketers would appear before the
committee while a visit to
the Atlas Cove jetty in
Lagos is also on the cards. Officials of government
agencies, including the
Ministries of Finance and
Petroleum Resources, as
well as the Petroleum
Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, are
also expected to reappear
before the committee this
week. The committee member,
who expressed
satisfaction with the
depth of revelations the
probe has so far elicited,
however, dismissed the notion that the exercise
would be another effort
in futility, adding that the
revelations are self-
evident that the probe
would end well. According to him, the
committee was satisfied
with its efforts so far and
is convinced that Nigeria
will never be the same
again as a result of the discoveries unearthed by
the probe. "You can see that a lot has
already come from the
probe. So this is not going
to go the way of previous
exercises. It is therefore
laughable when people pass such comments. "The committee is still
doing its job and it stands
to reason that they have
given this their very best
shot as representatives of
the people. "Hopefully, the probe will
end next week (this
week) and then, the
committee can go into the
next phase of the probe.
Besides, the committee is billed to visit the Lagos
Atlas Cove jetty after the
conclusion of the probe
later in the week. "The committee members
are not in a position to
speak to the press right
now on the probe. The
time is not right, but when
the time is right, the media will have first rate insight
into the many discoveries
by the committee," he
said. Home

Not at all. The amount in drop represent the one we have been subsidizing for the rich cabal in oil sector.

highland:

Not at all. The amount in drop represent the one we have been subsidizing for the rich cabal in oil sector.

yes, somebody in the sector just confirmed it that the supply is ok as only the fake supply is adam