The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) still says there is enough kerosene in circulation.

Dr Levi Ajuonuma, NNPC Group General Manager (Public Affairs Division) told newsmen in Lagos that the scarcity was artificial.

Ajuonuma said that marketers were responsible for the scarcity because NNPC had enough kerosene in stock and wondered what the cause of the scarcity was.

“NNPC has enough kerosene in stock and we are appealing to major and independent marketers to ensure effective distribution to end users.

“We have told them several times to ensure that petroleum products are taken from NNPC depot to the end users to end the scarcity of the kerosene.

“Marketers are the ones causing artificial scarcity to hike the price of the product,” Ajuonuma said. But the independent marketers told journalists on Wednesday that they did not have enough kerosene in stock.

Six marketers, who preferred anonymity, said the allegation that marketers were hoarding the product was false.

They said that marketers would not deliberately hoard kerosene nationwide.

One of them said marketers would not want to join issues with NNPC, adding that the truth was that the cost of kerosene was now high at the international market.

According to him, it is only the NNPC that can import sufficient kerosene to meet nationwide demand.

“Kerosene scarcity will persist in the country for as long as the high prices of crude oil in the international market remained.

“If there is scarcity, it means NNPC is not importing enough. It would have been easier for marketers to import if kerosene business was deregulated.

“Marketers will only dispense what they have and what sense does it make for us to have kerosene in our tanks and not dispense it?” one marketer asked.

Reports have it that the product has become a scarce commodity nationwide.

The price of kerosene has shot up in states like Rivers, Kaduna, Bauchi, Lagos, among others. The price has risen by about 150 per cent.

A survey of some major filling stations showed that a litre of kerosene now sells for between N150 and N180 against the official price of N50.

At the black market, a four-litre jerry can is sold for N1,300 while the 20-litre jerry can goes for N4,800 in Port Harcourt.

Prospective buyers spend several hours on long queues at filling stations before getting the product.

Members of the Indigenous Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (ISOAN) can provide five million jobs if the Federal Government changes its current maritime trade policy, a maritime expert, Chief Chijioke Egwuagu, said on Wednesday.

Egwuagu, the Chairman of a maritime firm, Multi Trade Group of Companies, told newsmen in Port Harcourt that the policy whereby crude oil buyers were allowed to come in and load their consignment with their own vessels was causing the nation colossal economic loss.

“Of all the member countries, which produce oil, Nigeria is the only country that still operates the trade policy of Freight On Board as against Cost Insurance Freight as done by other nations,’’ he claimed.

The maritime expert said the “outdated” policy had resulted in the loss of more than $150 millon monthly in crude oil sales made by Nigeria.

He said the enormous economic loss was regrettable and added that the indigenous ship owners were ready to collaborate with the government to put an end to it.

“The message we have sent to the President is to change Nigeria’s trade policy from FOB to CIF and we will bring in 20 brand new vessels of international standards to lift our crude with Nigerian-flagged vessels,” he noted.

Egwuagu said that, through his effort, the group had already secured a $1.8 billion offshore funding for the acquisition of 20 brand new ocean-going vessels.

A delegation of the association, he said, had also registered its commitment through the Minister of Transport, Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, to President Goodluck Jonathan.

“As a group, we are ever ready to make bold our position because most crude oil buyers have ripped off the economy of Nigeria through this FOB policy and we are out to stop it,’’ Egwuagu said.