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Indications that the current fuel scarcity being experienced in Nigeria
might come to an end have emerged as fuel marketers agreed to resume
full importation of fuel, after the government agreed to pay all their
outstanding claims on subsidy.
The Federal Government finally admitted for the first time since the
fuel crisis started that there was actually a huge gap in fuel supply,
and that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had
failed in its efforts. The accord to pay fuel marketers was reached by
the Federal Government at a stakeholders’ meeting convened in Lagos.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia organised the
meeting which was attended by representatives of depot owners, National
Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) workers, Petroleum Tanker
Drivers (PTD), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the
Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).
Ajumogobia urged the stakeholders to accept that all of them have equal
stake in ensuring that the country has a sustainable downstream that
works efficiently. NNPC corporation said that it had about 24
days’ petrol sufficiency nationwide. The country consumes about 31
million litres per day but industry sources said NNPC was currently
supplying about 18 million litres per day.
NNPC said it had concluded plans to convene a high level forum of all
the key operators in the downstream sector of the oil and gas
industry. In a statement issued last night by the Group General
Manager, Group Public Affairs, Dr Levi Ajuonuma, the meeting would be
convened this week to find a comprehensive and lasting solution to the
fuel supply and distribution challenges facing the downstream sector.
The forum is expected to have in attendance such stakeholders as the
Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC, a subsidiary of the
NNPC), DPR, PPPRA, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN),
the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN),
Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, (DAPMA), PTD,
NUPENG, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of
Nigeria(PENGASSAN), Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, Nigerian Army, and
other security agencies as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
and other operators in the banking sector.
PetrolWorld 080110
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