Africa-Press – Nigeria. Amid the return of long queues at petrol stations, the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources, Downstream and midstream, has assured that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has about 1.5 billion litres of petrol that can last for 30 days in storage.
The downstream and midstream committees, led by Hon Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere and Hon Odianosen Henry OOkojie,respectively, disclosed this during a press conference.
Ugochinyere, who represents Ideato North South Federal Constituency of Imo State, stated that in the last few days the downstream and midstream committees reached out to the stakeholders in the distribution value chain; the NNPCL, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and engaged extensively with them, with a view to ascertaining the cause of the resurgence of the fuel queues across the country.
The lawmakers expressed concerns over the temporary presence of fuel queues in petrol stations across the country, which has adversely affected the lives and businesses of Nigerians. However, she, expressed optimism that normalcy would return in a few days.
According to Ugochinyere, from investigations, they found out that there is availability of petrol products, at least, about 1.5 billion litres of petrol that can last for 30 days.
He noted that it is as a result of logistics that the queues have resurfaced and these logistic issues range from difficulty in transporting products from the mother vessel to the respective petrol stations.
Ugochinyere said, “Good day gentlemen of the press. Standing before you are the Chairmen of the House of Representatives Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and (Midstream), myself, Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere and my brother, Hon. Odianosen Henry Okojie respectively.
“The purpose of this press briefing is to give an update on the scarcity of petrol products and what the Committees are doing to ensuring that the right things are done as the representatives of the people. Ladies and gentlemen, it is so painful that Nigerians have been subjected to great hardship and pains as a result of the scarcity of petroleum products in the past few days.
“This development has led us as representatives of the people, to engage with the regulators of the relevant sectors with a view to finding out the cause(s) of this scarcity and providing solutions to same.
“We have in the last few days reached out to the stakeholders in the distribution value chain; the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and engaged extensively with them, with a view to ascertaining the cause of the resurgence of the fuel queues across the country.
“We hereby express our concerns over the temporary presence of fuel queues in petrol stations across the country. This has adversely affected the lives and businesses of Nigerians across the country. As elected representatives of the Nigerian people, we are greatly disturbed by this development. However, we are convinced that this is temporary and in a couple of days, we shall get over it.
“From our investigations, we have found out that there is availability of petrol products. We have on good authority that we have in our storage facilities, at least, about 1.5 billion litres of petrol that can last for 30 days. It is however saddening to note that it is as a result of logistics that the queues have resurfaced. These logistic issues range from difficulty in transporting products from the mother vessel to the respective petrol stations. Movement of products from offshore marine vessels to the stations, disruption from Escravos channels.
“We have gotten the assurances from the regulators in the value chain that these bottlenecks are being cleared. In the course of this public holiday, more grounds will be covered. From our findings, the issues that necessitated the disruptions which led to the appearance of fuel queues in petrol stations have been cleared.
“As at today, the reports we are getting suggests that the fuels queues have started disappearing and products have started arriving the petrol stations. We urge Nigerians not to engage in panic buying, nor be enmeshed in unnecessary rush to buy products. As a country we have a storage of over 1.5 billion litres which can last us for over 30 days. More products are arriving and more products are on the high sea. The only challenge that caused this disruption was the logistics issue that had to with the marine shuttle vessels, which was to move products to marketers, who are on standby waiting to serve the people.
“The logistics issues have now been resolved. On this note, we want to appreciate our Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abass, Ph.D, who has been very concerned in the last few days and have been on top of the situation with our Committees in the course of our interface with the regulators and key stakeholders in the industry. We also want to appreciate all stakeholders ranging from the NNPCL, NMDPRA, PETROAN, NARTO and other key stakeholders in the distribution value chain for their patriotic efforts in the last few days geared towards resolving this temporary disruption. We wish all Nigerians and workers, a happy workers day. We assure you that there is no cause for alarm.”
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