The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, said Tuesday that the federal government was not considering undertaking a review of the pump prices of petroleum products, especially Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol.
This came on a day the NNPC also said its subsidiary, Nidas Shipping Services, has resumed the international shipment of crude oil and petroleum products and had already got its first consignment.
In a statement in Abuja, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, affirmed that contrary to the misinformation trending in the social media that the Federal Government had no plan to review prices of petroleum products, either downwards or upwards, there was no such plan.
Ughamadu stated that despite the fact that NNPC, since October, 2017, had been the sole importer of PMS into the country, as oil marketing companies, OMC, could not import due to the open market price being much higher than the N145 per litre official selling price, government had no plan to review the market prices of products.
He cautioned rumour mongers to be wary of the impacts their ignoble act could cause on prices of petroleum products, especially petrol as the festive period draws nearer.
He added that if not checked, the insinuation of unsubstantiated price review could lead to artificial scarcity, hoarding of products by consumers which might, in turn, result in unwarranted queues and suffering of Nigerians at fuel stations.
He advised members of the public to report any station which sells PMS above the N145 recommended price to the offices of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, nationwide, which is saddled with the responsibility of monitoring and regulating the industry’s activities.
Ughamadu said the recent statement of the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, that the corporation had 37 days stock of PMS was sacrosanct, stressing that the NNPC’s helmsman had mapped out strategies to ensure Nigerians had a hitch-free festive season.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Tuesday, said its subsidiary, Nidas Shipping Services, has resumed the international shipment of crude oil and petroleum products and had already gotten its first consignment.
In a statement in Abuja, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, said global tanker fixture’s report had acknowledged the chartering of LRI tanker, MV Atlantica Bridge by Nidas to load jet fuel from El Dekheila Port, Egypt, for delivery to Nigeria for Duke Oil.
The fixture report, he said, also captured Nidas’ booking of tanker Res Cogitans to load Mercuria’s gasoline cargo for early-November loading from Europe’s Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) region to Offshore Lagos.
He further stated that as part of strategy to ensure effective participation in the entire supply value chain, NIDAS would optimize right of first refusal offer in the NNPC annual crude oil term and Direct-Sale-Direct Purchase, DSDP, agreements with off-takers.
Under the terms of the deal, Ughamadu said the off-takers are obligated to offer the NNPC shipping subsidiary the right of first refusal in freighting of cargoes.
He noted that the re-entry of NIDAS into the international shipment of crude oil and petroleum products was after seven years after falling out of reckoning in the global oil freight trade.
According to Ughamadu, NIDAS’s re-entry is in tandem with the ongoing strategic re-engineering of some NNPC subsidiaries to ensure multiple income streams and value addition to the corporation, in line with the aspiration of the corporation’s Group Managing Director, Mr. Maikanti Baru.
He explained that as a first step to regain its market position, NIDAS had established a robust chartering and operation desk in its UK office to help the company secure sea-going vessels from spot market to herald its market re-entry and foster strong competitive edge.
He further stated that the long-term aspiration of the company was to own and operate a fleet to secure a significant market share in the global shipping market.
Mr. Ughamadu said the development was part of Baru’s 12 Business Focus Areas (12BUFA) which he unfolded when he took over the leadership of the corporation in 2016.
Incorporated in 2007 as a Joint Venture between NNPC, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company Limited, DSME, Ughamadu noted that Nidas wa, at present, a wholly owned subsidiary of the corporation.
“Subsequently, a Board of Directors was inaugurated by the GMD with Engr. Henry Ikem Obih, Chief Operating Officer Downstream, as chairman, while Mr. Lawal Sade was appointed Managing Director, with mandate to drive the turn-around process and effective re-entry strategy of Nidas into the international oil shipping business,” he added.
