Fuel crisis: MOMAN, NNPCL partner to improve distribution

The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) says it is working with the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. to improve the distribution of gasoline across the country.

Mr. Clement Isong, Chief Executive Officer of MOMAN, said this in an interview in Lagos on Saturday, against the backdrop of the current scarcity of petrol and long queues at filling stations.

Isong said the association had been holding a daily logistic emergency meeting with the downstream management of NNPCL on how to improve the supply of gasoline.

According to him, the collaboration with NNPCL will enhance the distribution of petroleum products in the country.

"We are doing depot-to-depot check-in and check-out to enhance efficiency and also having logistical supply meetings with NNPCL."

"There is also collaboration among our members to cushion supply to various MOMAN stations."

"We arranged it in a way that any MOMAN member who does not have product can pick from fellow members' depots to minimize supply gaps," he said.

Isong also said the effort was to improve the supply of gasoline at fillingstations across the country.

"NNPCL had an operational meeting with MOMAN to ensure that products are effectively distributed across the country.

"The logistics meeting was to ensure adequate distribution of products to stations across the country," he added.

The helmsman said MOMAN members would be working late and during the weekend to bridge product supply gaps.

He said MOMAN had been pushing out more products than it normally did.

He added that the scarcity was a result of the delay experienced at the point of receiving products from offshore to onshore at the port.

He, however, said the logistics challenge had been resolved and members were currently trucking out products.

However, the oil marketers and petroleum depot operators, under the aegis of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), called for quick intervention by the federal government.

Its Chairman, Mrs. Winifred Akpani, urged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to comply with the Federal Government's directive to end payment of port charges in dollars for petroleum products brought into the country.

Akpani maintained that accessing forex through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) window would enhance their capacity, facilitate a seamless supply of gasoline, and establish a sustainable regime in terms of storage, distribution, and supply across the nation.

"DAPPMAN hereby calls on the government to establish a level playing field in the sector by giving petroleum marketers access to forex at the CBN exchange rate for their operations," said Akpani.

He emphasized that accessing FX at the official rate would boost fuel supply across the country.

She added that the burden of sourcing forex through the parallel market for transactions domiciled in Nigeria had left petroleum marketers in dire straits.

She said, "Accessing dollars for our operations has been an insurmountable hurdle for petroleum marketers."

"The difference between CBN exchange rate and the parallel market exchange rate continues to get wider by the day."

Supreme reports that some filling stations owned by major oil marketers were seen selling petrol at regulated price of N170 per litre, while stations belonging to IPMAN members sell between N220 and N240 per litre.

Most filling stations that have fuel collect N100 at the entrance before vehicles are allowed to enter filling stations, and additional N100 to sell product to vehicles owners.

Black marketers have taken advantage of the situation to hoard products and sell to desperate motorists at exorbitant prices.