The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has insisted that there are enough supplies of petroleum products in the country, allaying fears of any hitch in the distribution of these products.
The assurance from the state oil company follows media reports of fuel scarcity and resurgence of queues in some parts of the country.
This was made known by the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, while speaking at the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) 2021 Strategic International Conference on Tuesday, in Lagos.
The conference had as its theme: ‘Petroleum Industry Act: Energy Transition and the Future of Nigeria’s Oil and Gas.’
Kyari said NNPC’s objective was to provide energy security for Nigeria and ensure availability of petroleum products in the country.
He said: “As we speak now, there is speculation of fuel scarcity within the media but we have over 1.7 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit in the country. We have another 2.3 billion litres coming in so there is no shortage in supply as being speculated.
“Of course there are issues about pricing at some depots but government has no plan to revise the pricing structure.”
The NNPC boss has identified its abundant gas resources as its fuel for energy transition, which informed the declaration of the Year 2021 to Year 2030 as the Decade of Gas by the government.
He said: “We are making good progress in terms of the implementation of the PIA which is clearly creating the path for transition. There is no way we can achieve this feat without adequate infrastructure to transport the resources to where it will be used and that is why we are investing in massive gas infrastructure.”
He listed some of the gas projects to include the Obiafu-Obrikon-Oben (OB3) and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipelines, which would deepen gas utilisation across the country.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Simbi Wabote, said the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) had opened a lot of opportunities for the industry.
Wabote, who was represented by the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, NCDMB, Tunde Adelana, said the implementation would impact positively on local content development and host communities.
The NNPC has recently sustained supply of petrol across the country thereby eliminating incidents of scarcity.
The Federal Government had embarked on several gas projects as part of its effort in the expansion of gas utilization in the country as a cleaner, cheaper and more reliable alternative form of energy.
This is coming at a time when the Federal Government is shifting focus to gas utilisation as an alternative source of energy especially with the increase in the retail pump price of petrol.
