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By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has said that the current fuel scarcity being experienced across the country may not be unconnected with a 68.04 per cent drop in supply over the last three months.
Addressing the media yesterday, MOMAN Chairman, Mr. Olumide Adeosun, said there has being a steady drop in the supply of petrol from the importer of last resort-the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited over the last three months.
Giving a breakdown of the slide in fuel supply figures into the domestic market, Adeosun said the 438,000 metric tonnes was injected in April, N213,100 metric tonnes in May and 140,000 metric tonnes as at June 20,2022.
He explained that the consistent drop in supply over the three month period has contributed in no small measure to the current supply and distribution shortfall.
In a related development, the National Operrations Controller of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Mike Osatuyi, has warned the Federal Governement against the continued payment of subsidy, saying that the model was no longer sustainable.
Speaking in a live interview on Arise Television, Osatuyi said at the current rate of about $123 per barrel of oil subsidy will rise to N6 trillion by end of 2022.
‘’As at the beginning of 2022, the budget for fuel subsidy was N4 trillion. But with the rising oil prices occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the figure will swell to N6 trillion.
Our plea is that Government should urgently convene a meeting of all stakeholders in the value chain order to find a lasting solution to this problem’’.
Adeosun added that the current scarcity of petrol is further compounded by distribution challenges created by the unavailability and continuous surge in international prices of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel)
MOMAN members he said, are working with The Authority, NNPC/PPMC, NARTO and other industry stakeholders to make the product (petrol) available at the pumps and eliminate the queues as quickly as possible.
He warned that MOMAN, as an Association, fears that the current supply framework cannot guarantee steady and consistent supplies to the country given the current state of government finances and unpredictable international supply shortages.
‘’We therefore, recommend a gradual price deregulation with targeted palliatives (eg. transport and agricultural subsidies) to the public to ease implementation.
In the interim, the association is recommending that the current single supplier strategy be reviewed, while Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and relevant MDAs, should set up a taskforce to immediately focus on increasing diesel supply through accelerated initiatives to increase local modular refining capacity. This move will tackle the supply and distribution challenges.
It also advocated a phased rehabilitation of existing NNPC refineries to hasten supply of middle distillates (AGO & ATK).
MOMAN recognises and closely associates with the need to ease challenges with respect to high energy and transportation costs occasioned by extraneous circumstances.
MOMAN shall continually do its best to distribute petrol to its customers across the country and keep exploring opportunities to partner with other industry stakeholders.
