Fuel scarcity will persist till May - Kachikwu
Thu Mar 24, 2016 09:25:am National
7K By sosa hills
Minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has disclosed that the lingering fuel scarcity being experienced in all parts of the country may last for the next two months.
Dr Kachikwu made this disclosure yesterday after a closed-door meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the national president of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Igwe Achese, and president of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Olabode Francis Johnson, at the Presidential Villa.
Asked when the fuel queues would disappear, Kachikwu told the journalists that he was not a magician but that resolving the persistent problem was giving him sleepless nights.
However, he assured Nigerians that with the efforts being put in place to build up strategic reserves of petroleum products from the refineries to withstand frequent shocks in the system, the problem will be eliminated in the next two months.
The minister said the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has over the last six months become the sole importer of petrol, so it even appears to be magical that the filling stations have the quantity of fuel they are currently dispensing to consumers.
The government is also trying to establish a model that will get the major oil companies to go back to importing refined products so as to give the NNPC some leverage to concentrate on its traditional responsibility.
His words: "One of the trainings I did not receive is that of a magician but I am working very hard to ensure some of these issues go away.
"And let's be honest, for the five-six months we have been here, NNPC has moved from a 50 percent importer of products to basically a 100 percent importer.
"And the 445 million barrels that were allocated was to cover between 50 and 55 percent importation. So it is quite frankly, like sheer magic that we even have the amount of products at the stations.
"We are looking to see how to get foreign exchange input; the President and I discussed extensively on how to get more crude directed at importation.
"His Excellency will rather have less crude but have individuals in the society suffer less with inconveniences than have more crude and have them continue to suffer.
"So, we are going to put a new model to enable us increase the pace and actually get (oil) majors as part of the crew of those to bring in more products so that the NNPC will sort of go back on the capacity of what it used to do and the majors will take over the balance of importation.
"I think if we do that, although I don't want to put a time-frame, but I will expect that over the next two months - of course you are aware the SAP programme begins in April-we should see quite frankly a complete elimination of this scarcity.
"Our strategy is that whatever is produced in the refineries will not go for sale; we are going to keep them in strategic reserves. Because the key problem here is that there are no reserves and anytime there is a gap in supply, it goes off.
"So, we are going to dedicate the next couple of months to moving all the products that we produce to strategic reserves so that we can pile up reserves and that will push up the reserves in the nation.
"Believe me, this is giving me and my team sleepless nights and we are working on it and we are committed to making this go away; Nigerians should please bear with us."
Some of the issues the Minister and the union leaders discussed with the president include the need for speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB); planned sale of the refineries, job losses in the sector and utilisation of oil depots.
According to Kachikwu, "they are worried about the refineries and are thankful we didn't sell the refineries without looking to work collaboratively with them to see how to make the refineries work.
"They are worried about job loss in the sector arising from the position of majors who feel that the economy is giving them rough end of the sticks and then try to whittle down staff."
President of NUPENG, Igwe Achese, and his PENGASSAN counterpart, Comrade Olabode Johnson, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting and President Buhari's assurances that he would collaborate and engage with the unions in resolving all issues concerning the oil sector.
"As leaders, we are very satisfied with what he said and the commitment and passion he has shown for the industry. PIB is an Executive Bill; he said all the legal framework will be addressed so that it will be of benefit to Nigerians.
"He also showed concern for pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft and we know that with support and collaboration, he is going to achieve results" Johnson said.
Dr Kachikwu made this disclosure yesterday after a closed-door meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the national president of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Igwe Achese, and president of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Olabode Francis Johnson, at the Presidential Villa.
Asked when the fuel queues would disappear, Kachikwu told the journalists that he was not a magician but that resolving the persistent problem was giving him sleepless nights.
However, he assured Nigerians that with the efforts being put in place to build up strategic reserves of petroleum products from the refineries to withstand frequent shocks in the system, the problem will be eliminated in the next two months.
The minister said the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has over the last six months become the sole importer of petrol, so it even appears to be magical that the filling stations have the quantity of fuel they are currently dispensing to consumers.
The government is also trying to establish a model that will get the major oil companies to go back to importing refined products so as to give the NNPC some leverage to concentrate on its traditional responsibility.
His words: "One of the trainings I did not receive is that of a magician but I am working very hard to ensure some of these issues go away.
"And let's be honest, for the five-six months we have been here, NNPC has moved from a 50 percent importer of products to basically a 100 percent importer.
"And the 445 million barrels that were allocated was to cover between 50 and 55 percent importation. So it is quite frankly, like sheer magic that we even have the amount of products at the stations.
"We are looking to see how to get foreign exchange input; the President and I discussed extensively on how to get more crude directed at importation.
"His Excellency will rather have less crude but have individuals in the society suffer less with inconveniences than have more crude and have them continue to suffer.
"So, we are going to put a new model to enable us increase the pace and actually get (oil) majors as part of the crew of those to bring in more products so that the NNPC will sort of go back on the capacity of what it used to do and the majors will take over the balance of importation.
"I think if we do that, although I don't want to put a time-frame, but I will expect that over the next two months - of course you are aware the SAP programme begins in April-we should see quite frankly a complete elimination of this scarcity.
"Our strategy is that whatever is produced in the refineries will not go for sale; we are going to keep them in strategic reserves. Because the key problem here is that there are no reserves and anytime there is a gap in supply, it goes off.
"So, we are going to dedicate the next couple of months to moving all the products that we produce to strategic reserves so that we can pile up reserves and that will push up the reserves in the nation.
"Believe me, this is giving me and my team sleepless nights and we are working on it and we are committed to making this go away; Nigerians should please bear with us."
Some of the issues the Minister and the union leaders discussed with the president include the need for speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB); planned sale of the refineries, job losses in the sector and utilisation of oil depots.
According to Kachikwu, "they are worried about the refineries and are thankful we didn't sell the refineries without looking to work collaboratively with them to see how to make the refineries work.
"They are worried about job loss in the sector arising from the position of majors who feel that the economy is giving them rough end of the sticks and then try to whittle down staff."
President of NUPENG, Igwe Achese, and his PENGASSAN counterpart, Comrade Olabode Johnson, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting and President Buhari's assurances that he would collaborate and engage with the unions in resolving all issues concerning the oil sector.
"As leaders, we are very satisfied with what he said and the commitment and passion he has shown for the industry. PIB is an Executive Bill; he said all the legal framework will be addressed so that it will be of benefit to Nigerians.
"He also showed concern for pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft and we know that with support and collaboration, he is going to achieve results" Johnson said.
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