NNPC – FUEL STATIONS TO OPERATE LONGER HOURS TO AID PMS SUPPLY
Read Time:3 Minute, 11 Second
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited says fuel stations are to operate longer hours for the supply and distribution of petrol, calling on fuel stations to aid availability given the current tight situation.
According to the corporation, Premium Motor Spirit trucking’s turnaround time has also been extended to alleviate the current problem.
This was said on Monday in Abuja by Dapo Segun, the Executive Vice President of NNPC Ltd.’s downstream division, during a joint station inspection by the company and representatives of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, in an effort to guarantee that queues disappear the NNPC and the NMDPRA embarked on a joint monitoring to supervise the distribution and supply of petrol stations in the Federal Capital Territory and throughout the nation.
According to NNPC, the recent thunderstorms caused a disruption in the ship-to-ship fuel transfer between mother vessels and daughter vessels, which led to gasoline lines in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and other parts of the country.
It said that bad weather, such as thunderstorms and lightning, had also interfered with truck load-outs, berthing at jetties, and product transit to filling stations, causing logistical problems for station supplies.
Speaking during the inspection, Segun stated that there was a gap in the PMS discharge from ship to shore. He defined PMS as a volatile liquid and added that ship-to-shore movement had to be suspended during thunderstorms in order to prevent its discharge.
“This also affected the loading of trucks at the depot because of safety reasons, so we have to suspend all that during thunderstorms and that’s why you see this tightness.
“Though we have a challenge over the bad portions of motorways which deteriorated due to rains and flooding across the country, we will ensure that we are loading out all through the weekend and that we are mobilizing trucks.
“We are getting fuel stations to run for longer hours and we are getting marketers to collaborate and share stocks, rather than have a station with more trucks, they can release those trucks to other stations for circulation,’’ he said.
According to Mr. Ogbugo Ukoha, Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure, NMDPRA, the bad weather that impacted truck routes and operations offshore was the cause of the congestion in Abuja and other areas of Lagos.
In response to a question concerning its efforts to put an end to hoarding and the illicit operations of black marketeers, Ukoha stated that its representatives were physically inspecting the stations and depots to ensure that no hoarding was occurring.
“Due to the tightness in supply, there may be elements who will try to take advantage of that. We assure Nigerians to go about their businesses and purchase the volume they need without panic,’’ he said.
On this background, he said, the authority had done its regulation on national strategic stock and framework, adding that it was at the threshold of operationalising the framework.
“Again the sensitivity on the pump price is another matter, once those national strategic stocks are in place the logistic issues we have will be mitigated to a large extent and stabilise both supply and prices,” Ukoha added.
The team inspected fuel stations in the FCT, including the NNPC Ltd. Retail Outlet at Katampe and the AP fuel station located at Ibrahim Way, Garki 2, which have long queues.
The managers of the stations attested to the availability of sufficient stock and mentioned that the fuel supplied by the pumps was precise and required a steady supply of energy.
On the ground, drivers voiced mixed emotions and urged the government to find long-term solutions, with some having to wait longer in line for fuel than others and others not wasting time before their turns.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0