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Petrol: NNPCL Slashes Price For Marketers To Ease Scarcity

Published

1 year ago

December 14, 2022

Editor

…Oil marketers promise compliance

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL has adopted new measures aimed at guaranteeing adequate fuel supply across the country, by fixing N148 per litre as the price for lifting petrol at depots.

It also agreed to supply outstanding stock to independent oil marketers, to end product shortage.

This came as the independent marketers said they had been lifting the product from private depots at about N200 per litre, which made it impossible for them to meet the Department of State Services, DSS, 48-hour directive last week.

They said that the situation also led to their inability to sell petrol at the N170 per litre like their major marketers’ counterparts and NNPCL.

Vanguard, gathered yesterday, that a meeting was held between NNPCL, marketers and all the stakeholders, where the issues were resolved.

Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, who confirmed the development, said: “Our members have now been allowed to lift petrol at N148 per litre, meaning that we can now reduce our pump prices. We are committed to working with other parties to tackle the shortage across the country as quickly as possible.”

End shortage in one week — Reps

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, yesterday, called on NNPCL to end the lingering scarcity of petroleum products in the next week to ease the suffering of Nigerians.

The House also called on Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, to seek the collaboration of the Nigerian Police Force and DSS to ensure that fuel was sold at the regulated price and in all retail outlets.

The resolutions followed a motion entitled: “Urgent Need for the Government to End the Current Fuel Scarcity,” moved by Saidu Abdullahi (Niger State) under matters of urgent public importance at plenary.

Presenting the motion, Abdullahi noted that in the last few months, Nigerians have been subjected to untold hardships caused by petrol scarcity, affecting economic activities and making the already trying times in the country more difficult.

He said: “Intelligence reports on current fuel scarcity gathered by our securities agencies indicated that there is a deliberate plan by some oil marketers to derail the effort of the government in the distribution of fuel in the country by hoarding the petroleum products and thereby, creating artificial scarcity all over the country.

“While the fuel scarcity is hurting, some major marketers are currently selling fuel at government regulated price, but some independent marketers, who operate in the market have enough petroleum products and are selling at unregulated prices.

“Most of those fuel stations have resulted in selling fuel at over N300 per litre. It is observed with dismay that those who are gaining from this artificial fuel scarcity appear to be smiling home as a result of this ugly development and this has the potency to provoke innocent Nigerians against the government.”

However, IPMAN Public Relations Officer, Mr. Chinedu Ukadika who spoke to Vanguard, yesterday, urged the NNPCL to allocate 60 percent of petrol imported into the country to independent marketers at official rate to end the perennial scarcity in the country.

IPMAN Public Relations Officer, Mr. Chinedu Ukadika who spoke to Vanguard, yesterday, said the wide networks of independent marketers make them the perfect outlets to ensure sustained distribution of petroleum products across the country.

While applauding the management of NNPCL for ensuring that the independent marketers had access to the product in the past few days, he noted that for supply to normalize, independent stations must be given priorities.

According to him, in the Port Harcourt zone, independent marketers were allocated 35 trucks in the past few days at official pump price of N145.60 which has led to the disappearance of queues in the filling stations.

“Here in Port Harcourt, there is no problem for independent marketers for now. We have received 35 trucks so far and we are still expecting vessels for independent marketers.

“Even though the Port Harcourt Refinery depot has been shut down, we are getting from the private depots that NNPCL is using to distribute the product. The private depots are owned by DAPMAN members. At times there are challenges because the depot owners want to load the major marketers first,” he stated.

Ukadike explained that while supply has improved it was still not enough to sustain free supply “because the independents still rely on buying from DAPMAN members at N207/210 per litre to sell at their stations.

“I still canvass that because we have the facilities, because we have the population, because we are located in the nooks and crannies of the nation, independent marketers should be given at least 60 percent of the daily allocations from the PPMC”.

He pointed out that what has transpired in the past few weeks was not actually shortage of the product but price disparity among marketers.

“What happened is a ghost queue because it was not something that was sustainable. We should have been able to get enough products for independent marketers. Now we have 35 trucks but the big question will be when are we getting allocation again?

“We may have to wait for another two weeks but this allocation will last into next week. After then what will follow? Independent marketers will have to go back to private dealers to buy at high cost.

“Now, if you go to NNPC Retail stations you will see long queues but at the independent stations you will not find any queues because they are selling at above N200 per litre while NNPC Retail is selling at N179.50 per litre.

“What we have is price disparity and if the independents have the product at government approved price we will sell at N165 per litre, cheaper than what NNPC and the major marketers are selling,” he added.

Marketers set up committee to track product delivery

Similarly, National President of IPMAN, Mr. Chinedu Okoronkwo, said the scarcity in Lagos will disappear by the end of the week as its members have been given the product at the official price by NNPCL directly.

He said: “The resolution from our meeting, yesterday, was strictly on monitoring and tracking of product delivery across the country to avert diversion from marketers.”

Already compliance committees have been approved to see to this development.

“At the moment, scarcity in Abuja is off and by the end of the week, that of Lagos and other affected states would be cleared as backlogs of over 300 truck-loads of the product have been released.

“We call on marketers to desist from hoarding as we have signed an agreement with the Federal Government to ensure availability of the product at various petrol stations as well as strict monitoring of compliance by marketers across the country.”

MOMAN pledges compliance

Similarly, the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, yesterday, pledged its support towards ending the shortage.

In a statement, the association, said: “MOMAN continues to work with other key stakeholders to ensure that we ramp up supplies to our retail sites and return to normalcy as soon as possible. We envisage a rise in demand during the yuletide season and are prepared to work round the clock to keep our stations running.”
VANGUARD

Headline

Pop Star Justin Bieber Sparks Concern After Seen Crying Amid Rumours Of Rift With Wife

Published

3 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Editor

Pop sensation Justin Bieber has stirred concern among fans after posting a series of emotional selfies on Sunday, that has been linked to the rumoured split with his wife.

The 30-year-old singer took to Instagram over the weekend to share multiple photo dumps, offering glimpses into various aspects of his life.

From his surprise appearance at Coachella, where he performed during Tems’ set, to moments of leisure such as playing golf, enjoying the beach, smoking, and trying on different trainers, Justin Bieber’s posts provided a look into his world.

It was, however, one particular set of images that garnered significant attention from fans.

In a close-up series of selfies, Bieber appeared visibly distressed, with tears streaming down his face.

The pop star stared solemnly into the camera, his emotions laid bare for all to see, as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Despite the intimate portrayal of his emotions, Bieber offered no explanation or caption for his tearful display, leaving fans puzzled and concerned about his well-being.

Justin Bieber’s personal life has come under the spotlight since the recent rumors surrounding his marriage to wife Hailey Bieber (neé Baldwin), 27.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2018, has faced speculation about the state of their relationship on multiple occasions.

Concerns were raised recently when Hailey’s father, Stephen Baldwin, 57, requested “prayers” for the couple, fueling speculation about potential marital troubles.

Headline

400 Bodies Found In Mass Grave In Gaza Hospital

Published

24 hours ago

April 28, 2024

Editor

The government in Gaza have concluded their search of mass graves at a hospital in the south of the strip and said they have uncovered a total of 392 bodies, including some still wearing surgical gowns.

Speaking at a Thursday news conference at Rafah, on April 25, an official from the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said workers have identified 165 bodies at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month.

According to Mohammed Al Mighayyer, they are still examining the remaining 227 bodies to determine their identities.

“We found three mass graves, the first in front of the morgue, the second behind the morgue, and the third north of the dialysis building,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said any suggestion that it had buried Palestinian bodies in mass graves was false, and that a grave at the Nasser complex was dug by Palestinians in Gaza some months ago.

The Gaza Civil Defense acknowledged that around 100 bodies were buried in graves at the Nasser hospital before the IDF operation there.

CNN reports that people had buried the bodies of family members who had been killed on the grounds of the hospital as a temporary measure in January but when they returned after the Israeli military withdrew on April 7, they discovered the bodies had been dug up and then placed in at least one collective grave, not all in the initial spots they were buried in.

The Palestinian Civil Defense also showed graphic images on a TV screen at the news conference showing several almost unrecognizable bodies at the complex and bodies of decomposed children.

Al Mighayyer said the Civil Defense “witnessed the presence of children’s bodies in the mass graves at the Nasser Medical Complex, which proves crimes of genocide.” While the group says it is still examining the bodies, they suspect at least 20 civilians were buried alive in the complex, but it did not explain how it knows this, or offer proof.

Al Mighayyer also claimed there had been cases of executions of patients who had been receiving treatment at the hospital. He said several bodies were found with gunshot wounds to their heads and injuries to their bodies.

Al Mighayyer said at the news conference that the Palestinian Gaza Civil Defense in Gaza “discovered torture marks on [some] bodies.” CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

“Israeli forces buried several bodies in plastic bags at a depth of three meters, which made them decompose quickly.”

“The occupation deliberately concealed evidence of its crimes in the Nasser Complex by changing the plastic shrouds more than once,” he claimed. Video recorded by CNN shows bodies wrapped in three different coloured shrouds: white, black and blue.

Amnesty International has also called for an investigation into the mass graves at the two Gaza hospitals.

I’m response, the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF said:“During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance with the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined. The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages.”

The IDF continued: “At the end of February, IDF forces conducted a precise and targeted operation against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Nasser Hospital area. During the operation, about 200 terrorists who were in the hospital were apprehended, medicines intended for Israeli hostages were found undelivered and unused, and a great deal of ammunition was confiscated. The activity was done in a targeted manner and without harming the hospital, the patients and the medical staff.”

Headline

Watch Of Richest Titanic Passenger Sells For £1.17m

Published

1 day ago

April 27, 2024

Editor

A gold watch found on the body of the richest passenger on the Titanic was auctioned in England for £1.17 million ($1.46 million) on Saturday.

It was a record sum for an object linked to the notorious 1912 shipping disaster, said auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son.

A US buyer won the bidding war, smashing the auctioneer’s pre-sale estimate of between £100,000 and £150,000.

The watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to the US business magnate John Jacob Astor.

Astor was 47 when he died as the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912. He was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world at the time.

He died after having helped his wife, Madeleine, on board one of the lifeboats. She survived the disaster.

Astor’s body was found a week after the disaster, with the watch among his personal belongings.

“The watch itself was completely restored after being returned to Colonel Astor’s family and worn by his son,” said a statement from the auction house.