Operations of the Petroleum Downstream Sector in Rivers State  got ruffled last week, following a face-off between the Independent  Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN), the management of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) and the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC).
Problem started when the leadership of IPMAN mobilised its members last Wednesday to stage a peaceful protest at the premises of the PHRC and PPMC in Port Harcourt to register their discontent over perceived institutional breaches and  inefficiencies on the part of the companies to discharge their statutory functions.
The protest which commenced in  the early hours of Wednesday, last week, shut down the operations of the two federal agencies, as the aggrieved IPMAN members barricaded the entrances to the two companies with placards of varying inscriptions to press home their demands. Some of the placards read thus: “Diversion of our products is a crime,” “Private depots owners steal “PPMC products with the backing of NNPC staff,”  “We want products not excuses, “ PHRC, PPMC encouraging illegal bunkering.”
Since then Motorists and other users of petroleum products have been thrown into a state of apprehension and panic over a looming fuel scarcity following the shutdown and the threat of IPMAN and other related organisations to down tool if the PHRC and PPMC failed to heed their demands.
But IPMAN has insisted that its actions as a body was justifiable as it was billed to expose the sharp practices in the sector which have undermined their business concerns and service delivery to the public.
The major bone of contention, according to the IPMAN leadership, is that for over two years now, the PHRC and PPMC have failed to produce AGO(diesel)or DPR(kerosine) thereby making the independent marketers to depend on adulterated diesel (kpoofire) to fuel their haulage trucks before they could load the “imported PMS((Petrol) made available at the deport.”
This tendency, according to the IPMAN leadership, was an indication that PHRC and PPMC were encouraging illegal bunkering.
Rivers State Chairman of lPMAN, Comrade Emmanuel Inimgba, who spoke with The Tide in an exclusive interview prior to the protest, disclosed that the dependence of the independent marketers on adulterated diesel  to fuel their trucks in the loading of products was destructive on the engines and also exposed them to health dangers and other associated hazards.
The Rivers IPMAN said petroleum products sent from Lagos and Warri to Port Harcourt were diverted to private depots in Port Harcourt which are mostly owned by PPMC and NNPC management, and thus deny the independent marketers acces to the products at PPMC depot in Port Harcourt.
He said; “For more than two years now we haven’t been loading any products apart from imported PMS, we don’t have access to diesel and kerosene and we are constraint to depend on illegally refined products to power our loading  trucks. This has resulted in very high cost of operation on our part and affected the delivery of our services to the public, we are not going to load from those private depots where our products are diverted to until the products are supplied to the right depot.”
Comrade lnimgba who described the operations and services of IPMAN as capital intensive, said most of the independent marketers obtained loan facilities from banks to run their businesses and as such were under tight obligation to pay back the funds.
He regretted the perceived “indifference” of the regulatory agency in the Petroleum industry, i.e the  Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which according to him seem to gloss over the anomalies in the activities of the downstream sector in Rivers State despite several overtures made by IPMAN and other affected stakeholders to address the rising challenges.
He pointed out that the protest was to expose the; “shoddy deals going on in the down stream sector and to bring to the fore the sad experiences of the independent marketers.”
He called on the  DPR to live up to its statutory responsibilities by creating the enabling environment and ensuring transparency in the process, especially in products availability, arbitrary increase in prices of products and renewal operational licenses.
Comrade lnimgba also raised concern over the growing spate of insecurity against the investment of the independent marketers, noting that filling stations have become targets of  incessant robbery, especially in the night.
While applauding the Rivers State Governor for his efforts in promoting the security of lives and properties in the state, he appealed to the government to create a special police division to protect  the investments of the independent marketers to enable them render services to the public with relative ease.
“ Filling station owners have become endangered species, we can’t sell at night without threats of robbery attack.
The use of POS has helped to an extent but we want the government to come to our aid by creating a special police division to protect our operations. This will go a long way to address the challenges of insecurity we are experiencing,” he stated.
The IPMAN chairman also commented on the state of refineries in the country, particularly the Port Harcourt Refinery which he said was  completely dysfunctional.  He called on the Federal Government to fix the ailing refineries and make them effective in product delivery.
Apart from revamping the existing refineries, he said the Federal Government should also make real its promise of building  modular refineries in the Niger Delta Region so as to give the people of the oil rich region a sense of active participation in the oil and gas industry as well as enhance massive economic growth and expansion in the industry.
He contended that the  building of modular refineries in the Niger Delta would address the issues of unemployment and other social vices among the youth.
He said;  “when modular refineries are created in the Niger Delta, most youths who engage in illegal bunkering will channel their talents and energies in a more positive way as their technological  capacities will be fully  developed.”
Comrade Inimgba said that existing policies in the Nigeria oil and gas sector were tailored to the disadvantage of the Niger Delta people. He regretted that despite the enormous contributions of the region to the development of national economy the region still suffered huge development neglects.
He, therefore, called for a review of Nigerias’ petroleum laws to reflect the  imperatives of justice by giving the people of the Niger Delta assess to their natural resources for the development of the region.
“I want to  correct the erroneous impression that the people of the Niger Delta are not fit to play roles in the oil and gas industry, we have qualified technologists and technocrats in the Niger Delta. We want the Federal Government to allocate oil blocks to indigenes of the Niger Delta, this will give the people a sense of belonging, create direct development impact in the region and correct the imbalances in the oil and gas sector. “
The lPMAN chairman was also irked over the issue of pipeline vandalisation and explosions which had become a recurrent event in the Niger Delta region, resulting in wastages of lives and revenue.
He said IPMAN as a body was totally against pipeline vandalisation which is considered as sabotage, adding that the association has contributed its quota towards addressing the menace, such as constitution of special anti-pipeline vandalisation committee with the mandate to  work with relevant stakeholders to address the endemic vice.
He pointed out that the issue of pipeline vandalisation can not be tackled on a shallow bases except the root cause is addressed.
“IPMAN  as a body condemns pipeline vandalisation in its entirety, it’s a menace that have brought incalculable losses as people are killed in the process while revenue is lost.These pipelines pass through communities, the government should liase with communities on the surveillance and security of the pipelines. Also, obsolete oil pipelines in the Niger Delta should be replaced to avoid leakages and possible explosion,” he said.
Speaking on the activities of multinationals corporations and International Oil and Gas Companies (IOCS) in the Niger Delta, the oil and gas expert described the modus operandi of most of the companies as “defective and bereft of international best Practices.”
He expressed disappointment over the fact that “ most of the companies operating  in the Niger Delta deny the people employment quotas or simply  engage them without stipulated employment policies or condition of service and subject them to  slave labour and caualisation.”
He also kicked against the relocation of the corporate  headquarters of the multinationals from the Niger Delta to Lagos on the excuse of insecurity, saying that such excuses were calculated ploys to slight the region economically.

Taneh Beemene