NNPC releases distribution details of 387.5m litres of petrol to solve scarcity

Duke Oil, Oando Plc insist imported fuel met specifications
As the scarcity caused by withdrawal of methanol-blended petrol into the country eases off, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd has released details of how it distributed a total of 387.59 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in one week to bridge the gap.

According to NNPC, the petrol, distributed to Nigerians through retail filling stations from February 14 to 20, 2022 represents an average daily distribution of 55.4 million litres.

A breakdown of the NNPC weekly national evacuation report released, yesterday, showed that 80 per cent of all the PMS took place at 20 high loading depots, while 20 per cent took place at the other loading depots.

NNPC said the top 20 high loading depot used are: Pinnacle-Lekki, which evacuated the highest volume of 70.8 million litres, NIPCO (22.6 million litres), AITEO (22.3 million litres), Swift (16 million litres), 11 PLC (15.9 million litres), Bovas Bulk (15 million litres) and Frado (14.6 million litres).

Others are: Keonamex (13.7 million litres), MRS Ltd (11.9 million litres), Rainoil (11.6 million litres), AYM Shafa (11.2 million litres), TSL (11.2 million litres), Rainoil Lagos (11.2 million litres), Matrix (10 million litres), Conoil Lagos (9.7 million litres), AA Rano (8.8 million litres), Bluefin (8.4 million litres), HOGL (8.2 million litres), Ibafon Calabar (8 million litres) and Mainland (7.5 million litres).

With the distribution of 385.59 million litres in one week, scarcity of petrol was arrested, with queues drastically reduced at filling stations in Abuja, Lagos and other major cities, as selling outlets that had been shut for over a week due to supply gap opened for operations last Sunday.

In Abuja, retail outlets in the satellite towns, such as Bwari, Lugbe, Kubwa, Zuba, Kuje and others hitherto experiencing product shortage were seen dispensing petrol to motorists last Sunday.

The methanol-blended product, according to the NNPC, was imported into the country by four oil marketers through four PMS cargoes under the NNPC’s Direct Sales Direct Purchase arrangement.

The four companies that supplied the methanol-blended petrol are: MRS, which made the importation through a vessel named MT Bow Pioneer; Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium through a vessel identified as MT Tom Hilde; Oando through a vessel named MT Elka Apollon; and Duke Oil.

The product was purchased from international trader, LITASCO, and delivered through the LITASCO loading port terminal in Antwerp in Belgium.

In the midst of the crisis, NNPC promised that over 2.3 billion litres of PMS would be delivered before the end of February 2022 to totally arrest the situation.

BUT Duke Oil and Oando Plc, yesterday, distanced themselves from alleged importation of adulterated fuel into the country recently.

Managing Director of Duke Oil, Lawal Sade, who appeared before the Mahmoud Gaya-led House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), maintained that the fuel met required specifications.

Sade explained that the fuel imported by his outfit was duly certified at both ports of loading and discharge by relevant authorities.

He said: “Yes, there was a delivery of cargo by Duke Oil, like you have seen in the report, and that cargo met Nigerian specifications both at the loading and discharge ports.

“There was a confirmation by the regulator, which is the new Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to discharge that cargo within the stipulated date. The cargo discharged and the vessel sailed.”

An official of Oando Plc, Afanga Afanga, also insisted his firm did not breach the law.

According to him, “In line with our Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) contract with NNPC, on January 16, 2022, we delivered 90MT worth of PMS on board the Vessel MT Elka Apollon. It is important to note that this PMS cargo that was supplied met and was in line with all the Nigerian and DSDP contractual specifications.

“This was confirmed by the mandatory tests that were conducted at the loading port in Europe and before discharge in Nigeria by independent NNPC quality inspectors and finally by agents of (NMDPRA). It is on this basis that the cargo was certified and accepted for discharge by NNPC.”

Thereafter, Gaya directed the officials to submit their presentations for further scrutiny.