NNPC Allocates 30,000 Metric Tonnes Of Kerosene

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday allocated 30,000 metric tonnes of kerosene to Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) to ease scarcity of the product.

Dr Levi Ajuonuma, NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs, disclosed this while inspecting the vessels that brought the product at Takwabay in Lagos.

He said that the allocation was in line with the promise made by the NNPC and the marketers on Tuesday to flood the market with the product within 10 days.

Ajuonuma said that NNPC had devised a method to end “the artificially induced scarcity and hike in the price of kerosene”.

He said the corporation had increased the daily distribution of kerosene product from eight million litres to 12 million litres to ensure that the product got to the people.

Ajuonuma said that the country now had kerosene reserve that could last for over 40 days when other imported product would have come into the country.

“We have put in place a mechanism to ensure that the issue of artificial kerosene scarcity is urgently addressed in the country.

“We have imported over one million metric tonnes of kerosene to flood the market and end the scarcity,’’ he said.

The NNPC spokesman said that distribution problem had been the major challenge which NNPC management was trying to address through importation of the product to complement local production.

Ajuonuma appealed to Nigerians to be vigilant and report any unwholesome practice in the distribution chain.

He said that NNPC, in collaboration with the Department of Petroleum Resources, would continue to introduce strict measures to monitor distribution of kerosene.

Mr Farouk Ahmed, Executive Director (Commercial) in Pipelines Products Marketing Company (PPMC), said that with the allocation, all NNPC Mega Stations would sell the product at N50 per litre.

Ahmed said that government would meet the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) next week to fashion out ways of ensuring a lasting solution to the scarcity.

President Goodluck Jonathan in a chat with US President, Barrack Obama during his visit to the White House On Wednesday