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Tag: Mele Kyari

  • Nigeria will stop importing petroleum products in 2023 – NNPC Ltd

    Nigeria will stop importing petroleum products in 2023 – NNPC Ltd

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC Ltd.), said that the importation of petroleum products into the country will be stopped by mid-2023.

    Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd. disclosed this at the State House Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team, on Tuesday in Abuja.

    He said that the combined output of Nigeria’s refineries being revamped and Dangote refinery would be enough to stop importation.

    He said: “Even if all the refineries are working today, you will still have a net deficit of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to import into this country.

    ”This is what it means, because our population has grown; demand has grown; the middle class has grown. I am sure everybody here owns one or two cars; and as such, the volume of petroleum products we require in this country has grown exponentially.”

    Kyari stated that this was because there was clearly an exponential growth in our need for PMS.

    “So, even if they all come, we are going to stop importation of petroleum products, but happily also, NNPC Ltd owns 20 per cent equity in the Dangote Refinery and we are very proud of this,” he added.

    Kyari said that aside from owning 20 per cent equity in Dangote Refinery, NNPC Ltd had the right of first refusal to supply crude oil to that plant.

    “But, we saw this energy transition challenge coming; we knew that time will come when you will look for people who will buy your crude oil, you will not find.

    “And that means we have locked down the ability to sell crude oil for 33,000 barrels minimum by right for the next 20 years. By right also, we have access to 20 per cent of the production from that plant,” Kyari said.

    He expressed optimism that Dangote Refinery would become operational by the middle of 2023. According to him, the refinery has a production capacity of 650, 000 barrels per day, with a different technology.

    Kyari added: “Which means that, it can crack the crude in a manner that you can have more gasoline than a typical refinery; that means the refinery has the ability to produce up to 50 million litres of PMS.

    “So, the combination of that and our own ability to bring back our refinery will completely eliminate any importation of petroleum products into this country.

    “This is very practical; this is possible; as a matter of fact, what we have done with our own refineries and the Dangote Refinery with many other small initiatives we have put in place—small, modular, condensate refineries that we are building.

    ”If that happens, we are very optimistic it will happen; you will see that this country will now be a net exporter”.

    The NNPC boss said he was looking forward to Nigeria becoming a hub of export of petroleum products, not just to the West African region, but to the rest of the world.

    He said he was upbeat as the flow of supply would change by the middle of 2023.

    “So, you will not have need for the importation of petroleum products into this country by the middle of next year,” he said.

  • NNPC Ltd launches crude theft monitoring applications

    NNPC Ltd launches crude theft monitoring applications

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) on Friday launched  ‘Crude Theft Monitoring Applications’ to curb oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

    The launch held in Abuja on the sideline of the signing of renewed Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) agreements between NNPC and its partners in Oil Mining Leases.

    The portal with the address ‘stopcrudetheft.com’ could also be accessed through a mobile phone.

    The portal has application options for reporting incidences, with prompt follow up and responses and another one for crude sales documents validation.

    Speaking during the launch, Malam Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), NNPC Ltd. said ”vandals’ actions on pipelines became a difficult thing to deal with, but it engaged partners to ensure that it responded to the situation.”

    According to the GCEO, there was involvement of government regulatory bodies, security agencies and host communities while it put up a robust framework to curtail the menace.

    “There are still ongoing activities of oil thieves and vandals on our pipelines and assets, very visible in the form of illegal refineries that are continuously put up in some locations and insertions into our pipeline network.

    “Arrests have been made and vessels have been arrested by Nigerian Navy, I commend the Armed forces, in the last three months, they have done substantive work and had destroyed some illegal refineries,” he said.

    Kyari said international refineries where the stolen crude could be taken to had obligations to ensure they bought Nigerian crude from credible sources which could be validated.

    He said, ”if they refused to do that, they would be held responsible as part of the culprits involved.”

    He explained that the platforms were created for members of the communities and other Nigerians to report incidences of theft and be rewarded.

    Kyari urged that on the international arena, companies must report suspicious sale.

    He further said,”every product that left the country must have a unique registration number by the NNPC and validated by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

    “Ahead of this, we are also creating a platform where end-users, particularly refiners and traders can validate the product.

    “We cannot do this without international collaboration. It is impossible for any refinery to take a crude they do not know the source, refineries are designed to process certain specific grade of crude.

    “It is their duty to ensure that they validate this, because we have unique number of every crude that leaves this country,” he said.

    The GCEO, while stating that it has a total coordination process now, said it had a line of sites around all marine movement in the country and had created a functional platform.

    “We have visibility around everyone’s operations and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) is following everyone related to those transactions.

    “Wherever there is massive movement of cash, EFCC will follow the person, we believe that the combination of all these will get us back to normalcy,” he said.

  • OPEC Secretary General, Barkindo dies 3 weeks to end of tenure

    OPEC Secretary General, Barkindo dies 3 weeks to end of tenure

    The Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo is dead.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Barkindo died on Tuesday at about 11 pm, hours after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

    His death was announced in the early hours of Wednesday by the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari.

    “We lost our esteemed Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo. He died at about 11 pm yesterday 5th July 2022.

    Certainly a great loss to his immediate family, the NNPC, our country Nigeria, the OPEC and the global energy community. Burial arrangements will be announced shortly,” Kyari tweeted.

    TNG reports President Buhari had on Tuesday received Barkindo at the State House in Abuja, where the president described him as a worthy ambassador of the country.

    Buhari had said posterity will remember Barkindo kindly for making the nation and himself proud during his six years of meritorious service at the helm of affairs as the 4th OPEC Secretary-General from Nigeria.

    Barkindo’s tenure as OPEC Secretary General comes to an end on July 31.

  • No refinery is functional in Nigeria – NNPC GMD

    No refinery is functional in Nigeria – NNPC GMD

    Mr Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd says there is no single refinery working at the moment in the country.

    Kyari disclosed this when he appeared before the House of Rep joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The committee is investigating the increased in prices of diesel and cooking gas.

    Kyari said that the country’s refineries were not working at the moment, adding that the situation was regretable but the NNPC was doing something to bring the refineries back to work.

    According to him, the refineries will not come back tomorrow, there is a process going on. “We have decided to do a quick fix for Warri refinery.”

    He said that no one could guarantee the security of petroleum supply, adding that countries were preserving excess volume that they had in their kitty.

    “The world has never seen this kind of uncertainty, today countries are stockpiling products. Shortly before COVID-19 the world was already facing shortfall of 3 million barrel of supply of oil,” he said.

    He said that there had been no control to manage the energy crisis across the world, stressing that ” to guarantee energy security means you just make product available at anytime and by any cost.”

    The GMD also disclosed that over 200 illegal refineries were being operated across the country.

    He said that the solution was to restore crude oil production, adding that there was a massive intervention that was ongoing and by the end of July “we will restore production to a level that is reasonable.

    “Many European countries are asking for rationing gas, they are asking people to alternate their Air Conditioning.

    “Today, countries are toying with subsidy because prices are so high because they don’t think they can manage inflation associated with it.”

    Mr Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum, said that the current geopolitical crisis in Ukraine and Russia had resulted in the increase of petroleum product.

    He added that  this was because Russia was one of the major producer, adding that the war had affected petroleum products and it also affected all nations across the world and Nigeria was not an exemption.

    He said that the landing cost of petroleum product was also a factor, adding that the high cost was not limited to Nigeria.

    “We need to see what can be done to alleviate the suffering of the people. If our refineries are back on stream and make foreign exchange available at the official rate of N400 per dollar.

    “And if our refineries come back we can then get a reprieve. We also need to address the issue of vandalism.

    Rep. Abdullahi Gaya, Chairman, House Committee on Downstream, noted that Nigeria had refining capacity but because none were functioning which led the country to her sorry state.

    He said that there was need to find solution to the high cost of diesel and cooking gas in a bid to cushion the effect on the generality of Nigerians.

    Some of the lawmakers who spoke, however, said that Kyari and Ahmed expressed helpless situation.

    “You have just presented a hopeless situation, you have the responsibility to proffer solution. If there is no solution then why are we here.

    The lawmakers said that they were particularly concerned about the plight of Nigerians, as many of them collect a minimum wage of N30,000.

    They noted that Nigeria may have to go the way of other nation by subsidising cooking gas.

  • Buhari to unveil new NNPC Ltd July 18

    Buhari to unveil new NNPC Ltd July 18

    The new Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC Ltd.) will be unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari on July 18, 2022.

    The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Malam Mele Kyari, said this on Tuesday while receiving the CEO of the Year 2021 Award of the Leadership Newspapers Group in Abuja.

    The Leadership Annual Conference and Awards also saw Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala receive the Leadership Person of the Year Awards.

    Speaking virtually from Luanda, Uganda where he is attending the meeting of African Petroleum Conference (CAPDE VIII), Kyari expressed “profound appreciation” toward the award.

    He thanked the Leadership Newspapers Group for recognising the efforts of the NNPC.

    He said such recognition was a challenge to do more.

    The new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, restructured and empowered the NNPC as a new entity.

  • NNPC boss seeks support of stakeholders in oil and gas to tackle crude theft in Niger Delta

    NNPC boss seeks support of stakeholders in oil and gas to tackle crude theft in Niger Delta

    Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mele Kyari, has solicited the support of the National Association of Petroleum and Engineering Gas Workers, National Association of Road Transport Owners and others to tackle crude oil theft in Niger Delta.

     

    In his words: “We are partners and workers in the industry and NNPC is here to protect and preserve every institution that is helping this industry to grow and survive.”

     

    Kyari spoke on Tuesday at a conference in Asaba, Delta State, organized by the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

     

    He said the theft of crude oil is denying the country funding to boost economic development.

     

    A report released last month during a meeting on crude oil theft between Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Oil Producers Trade Section and Independent Petroleum Producers Group, showed that between January 2021 and ths February, Nigeria lost about $3.2 billion to crude oil theft.

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently ordered the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, and other security chiefs to combat crude oil theft.

     

    The report added that oil theft rose significantly between 2021 and 2022, with over 90 per cent of total crude produced at the Bonny Terminal stolen in January.

     

    Kyari said: “You can see the short trouble that we have and what it has caused all of us. But more than this, our locally industries are terribly challenged and you may be aware, we have seen vandal activities around our areas of operations not just in Niger Delta but across other corridors of product supply.

     

    “Activities of oil thieves have got to a limit we haven’t seen before, almost bringing down this industry to its knees. As we speak, our production total is less than 1.5 million barrels per day. This no doubt will affect the investing companies, they will not have the resources to continue to invest and therefore make more and more sustainable employment to become a challenge, no doubt about it.

     

    “That is why all of us must practically come together to see how we can contain it. There is so much going on now. We are leading a process to ensure that we intervene in the security matter.

     

    “We want to ensure that verybody is involved so that ultimately we are able to get back this industry or otherwise this industry will collapse on our hands and if it does, we will not be talking about employment and this is the reality we are facing today.

     

    “You are very critical in stopping some of the situation today because when people steal products and they convert them to diesel, they will use your trucks to bring them into the country.

     

    “And you can play a very prominent role to stop some of these transactions going on and I really implore all of us to come on the desk so that this industry can survive.

     

    On the issue of energy transition, Kyari said that this concept does not mean that oil will disappear by 2050.

     

    He said what the concept of energy transition means is that countries should start embracing more cleaner sources of energy that are more friendly to the environment.

     

    He added that NNPC “is also championing this initiative by shifting more attention to gas production which is a more cleaner source of energy than fossil fuel.”

  • Bad petrol: Won’t Buhari, Sylva, NNPC MD resign? – By Mideno Bayagbon

    Bad petrol: Won’t Buhari, Sylva, NNPC MD resign? – By Mideno Bayagbon

    By Mideno Bayagbon

    I understand if your first reaction after reading the above headline is to wonder: President Buhari should resign? But Why? Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State, Petroleum, should too? And the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari? Wetin dem do? Why should they resign? You may further ask. And if you are a member of the Buhari Hailing Party, what we have come to know as the Hailers; or a beneficiary of the unearned largesse at the disposal of the junior minister for the Petroleum Ministry, or the emperor at the NNPC, it is understandable for you to call for my head to be placed on the guillotine.

    The shock would be if the headline resonates immediately with the Nigerian on the streets or in the boardrooms. That would be the biggest surprise of the year. We have never been known as such a people to massively call for the sack of our public officers. No matter how bad the lived situation of Nigeria is, we look for a short cut, for a way, no matter how undignified, out. When those who pose as government and their officials, through compounded incompetence, poorly thought out policies, greed and corruption, slam us repeatedly on the iron wall, we don’t fight back. We look for a way to dig a bunker to hide. We will rather be cowards than face our fears; than confront our oppressors.

    If any one is in doubt about why Nigeria, as a country and as a people, is where it is today, you need not look farther than the ongoing episode of adulterated fuel import. The audacious impunity with which the government has carried on, is a sorry commentary on our nation. The attitude is akin to “Damn the Public.” They don’t matter. We can carry on as we like. Everything, despite the monumental damage done, must go on as usual.

    Neither remorse, nor sanctions, just blame gaming and blame shifting. It does not matter to them that their perfidious incompetence is wracking the economy and sending expense accounts of Nigerians into a tailspin. We are a nation that doesn’t punish impunity, but rewards bad, evil, and corrupt leadership.

    And it is not just about the ruling party, the APC, government alone. Even the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is silent. Not concerned with the agony of those whose cars have been wrecked, whose businesses have been badly impacted, whose increased cost of transportation and cost of living have suddenly skyrocketed due to no fault of theirs. Not one meaningful statement from the PDP calling for sanctions on the officers involved or on the leadership on whose table the bulk of this disastrous issue rests. Just one lame excuse of a statement. There is an obvious connivance going on. Being birds of the same corrupt plumage.

    Moreover, the indolence and conspiratorial inertness of the average Nigerian is mind boggling. Our ability to coil up, to be kicked in the groin, time and over again, without a whimper, is truly exasperating. Government treats Nigerians a little less than slaves, and it is life as usual. Nigerians expect nothing good from the so-called leaders. They get nothing but bad, incompetent leaders. The average Nigerian doesn’t care. They carry on only to mumble in the dark crevices of their bedrooms. Afraid lest the wind betrays their anguish and whisper their stultifying agony near the opulent, nonchalant ears of their oppressors, the government.

    Our docility is the reason it is said of Nigerians that they are the easiest people on earth to be ruled. This is not a new phenomenon. It didn’t start with President Buhari. For anyone old enough to remember, the Abami Eda, the one who thought he had death in his pouch, Fela Anikulapo, lamented about it almost forty years ago. In one of his songs, Sorrow, Tears and Blood, with lyrics reproduced.

    • My people self dey fear too much
    • We fear for the thing we no see
    • We fear for the air around us
    • We fear to fight for freedom
    • We fear to fight for liberty
    • We fear to fight for justice
    • We fear to fight for happiness
    • We always get reason to fear

     

    • We no want die
    • We no won’t wound
    • We no want quench
    • We no want go
    • I get one child
    • Mama dey for house
    • Papa dey for house

     

    • Them leave sorrow, tears, and blood
    • Them regular trademark (them regular trademarks)
    • Them leave sorrow, tears, and blood
    • Them regular trademark
    • This is why

     

    • Everybody run, run, run
    • Everybody scatter, scatter
    • Some people lost some bread
    • Someone nearly die….

    While Nigerians and the economy groan, President Muhammadu Buhari, typically is keeping an aloof silence. Chief Timipre Sylva is incommunicado, while the NNPC GMD, Mele Kyari, thinks so little of the sufferings engendered by the adulterated fuel, that he chose to go and collect an honorary degree from one of the local universities. Thereafter, he comes public to insult the intelligence of Nigerians by trying to abdicate responsibility for the fiasco. He blames four sub contractor companies which the NNPC, the sole importer of fuel into the country, sublets part of its responsibilities.

    When this became untenable, he shifts the goalpost and goes on other blame game gimmicks. He never for once accepted blame for the damage to the economy and the people which the incompetence of the agency that he heads has visited on the country. For him, all is well, as long as he is able to paper over his complicity, incompetence, and guilt.

    He does this knowing full well no one will call him to accountability. He knows that he faces no risk of a sack or even a reprimand. His bosses, the minister for petroleum, the president of Nigeria, and his minister of state, who should be under heavy fire, their jobs hanging on the balance of public anger, are mute. They know the powerless, cowardly Nigerians all too well.

    The GMD, Mele Kyari, and the NNPC, in other climes, would be facing huge financially damaging suits by now. The huge payout they would have been forced to pay would have induced humility. The impacted citizens would have organised themselves into a joint force to sue NNPC and Kyari in his official and personal capacity. The insurance companies too, who would have had legions of payments to make on insured cars, would have been up in arms. There is no way, the careless conspiracy going on would have been tolerated without humongous consequences to the NNPC and the government.

    Yet, were Nigeria one of the decent democracies and economies of the world, President Buhari, Sylva and Mele Kyari would have been too afraid of kissing their jobs good bye, to behave the way they have done to Nigerians so far.

    As for me, the three of them should be held accountable. They should not hold their positions one minute longer. They should be made to resign or pay dearly. Especially the NNPC GMD! Even if Nigerians are afraid to talk to them, should their consciences also be afraid of them?

  • Adulterated fuel: How NNPC concealed vital report to throw Nigerians into suffering

    Adulterated fuel: How NNPC concealed vital report to throw Nigerians into suffering

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited charged with the responsibility of regulating and supervising the oil industry on behalf of the Nigerian government has Integrity, Transparency and Accountability at the centre of its core values, yet failed to immediately take responsibility for the importation of the adulterated fuel that has caused Nigerians unquantified economic and social hardship.

    The NNPC admitted on 20th January 2022 that it received a report from its quality inspectors on the presence of emulsion particles in Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) cargoes shipped to Nigeria from Antwerp-Belgium. The report NNPC received from its quality inspectors goes contrary to the quality certificates issued at load port (Antwerp-Belgium) by AmSpec Belgium, which indicated that the gasoline supplied, complied with Nigerian specifications.

    “As a standard practice for all PMS imports to Nigeria, the said cargoes were equally certified by inspection agents appointed by the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA),” said the Chief Executive Officer/ Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari.

    It is important to note that all imported petroleum products must meet the National Quality Standard specifications approved by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). To ensure compliance, relevant tests are carried out.

    Kyari also said that the NNPC quality inspectors including GMO, SGS, GeoChem and G&G conducted tests before discharge and the results showed that the gasoline met Nigerian specifications.

    In spite of the contrary report the NNPC claimed it received on 20th January, the corporation rather than isolate the vessel and take urgent steps to reconcile its findings with AmSpec Belgium which issued quality certificates for the product, concealed this information and allegedly went ahead to discharge same to five major oil marketers – OVH, MRS NIPCO, ARDOVA and TOTAL – between 24th and 30th January 2022.

    As the adulterated fuel travelled from Lagos to other parts of the country, an unperturbed Kyari visited the Federal University of Technology Minna, Niger State where he delivered the 30th convocation lecture of the university titled: “Energy Transition and Energy Accessibility: The New Paradigm” and was conferred its Honorary Doctorate Degree of Engineering (Honoris Causa) in recognition of his contributions to national development.

    “Just received an honourary Doctor of Engineering from the Federal University of Tech Minna. A humbling call to duty and for delivery of value to the shareholders of NNPC ltd.,” the NNPC GMD tweeted on 2nd February.

    The damaging effect of the bad fuel was soon noticed by the consuming public and Nigerians took to social media to complain about their vehicle engines developing faults after purchasing fuel from some filling stations. In one of the videos, a man holding a darkish liquid in a transparent container lamented how the fuel he bought from a refill station in Abuja had damaged his car.

    As a result of persistent complaints, the NNPC on 10th February, more than three weeks after it had been intimated of the bad purchase, issued a statement “that limited quantity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification, was discovered in the supply chain.

    “To ensure vehicular and equipment safety, the limited quantity of the impacted product has been isolated and withdrawn from the market, including the loaded trucks in transit. The source supplier has been identified and further commercial and appropriate actions shall be taken by the authority and NNPC Ltd.”.

    The blame game

    Not willing to take responsibility for the negative economic and social impact of the bad fuel, Kyari accused four oil marketers – MRS, Oando, Duke Oil and a consortium of consisting Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U – of importing the products through a Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) arrangement.

    Three of the four named companies denied importing the bad fuel. One of them, MRS said in a statement that due to the current subsidy regime, NNPC is the sole supplier of all PMS in Nigeria.

    “Consequently, the NNPC through their trading arm, Duke Oil, supplied a cargo of PMS purchased from international trader Litasco and delivered it with Motor Tanker (MT) Nord Gainer. This vessel was discharged in Apapa between the 24th and 30th of January, 2022.

    “Following delivery into tank, it was observed that the product appeared hazy and dark; management immediately directed that further sales should be stopped and the products isolated. Urgent steps were taken to analyse the product to determine the basis for its contamination.

    MRS noted that product analysis revealed that the PMS discharged by Nord Gainer had 20 per cent methanol, an illegal substance in Nigeria, and immediately notified the NNPC, NMDPRA and MOMAN (Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria) and it was confirmed that other marketers had similar experiences; adding that the allegation that it imported contaminated products is “mischievous, false and untrue”

    Similarly, the management of Brittania-U maintained that all its imported products which cover the entire spectrum of upstream, midstream and downstream sectors, met NNPC’s product quality requirements.

    “All the PMS from our mother vessel, MT Torm Hilde were discharged with all relevant certificates of quality after laboratory analysis as it was adjudged lead-free, ethanol-free, water-free, suspended matter-free and had a sulphur content of 0.0174 as against 0.05, which is within the acceptable content allowable by Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Authority,” the company stated.

    Investigations by TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) revealed that following the deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry and the inability of oil marketers to access foreign exchange at a competitive price, the NNPC has remained the sole importer of gasoline.

    Also, while the Corporation has not denied that it is responsible for supervising the industry, it punched a hole in the integrity of its processes when the GMD said that the NNPC’s assessment does not include tests for methanol.

    “It is important to note that the usual quality inspection protocol employed in both the load port in Belgium & our discharge ports in Nigeria do not include the test for Percent methanol content & therefore the additive was not detected by our quality inspectors,” Kyari said.

    A break in supply chain and resulting scarcity, damages

    Acute shortage of PMS was experienced across major cities evidenced by long queues and the presence of jerry can carrying youths along the streets, who jostled to sell the scarce product to motorists for between N300- N700 per litre against the official price of N165.

    In spite of the inconvenience of paying outrageously high amounts for the commodity and the loss of productive hours spent waiting under the scorching sun to buy PMS at the official price, many motorists reported various degrees of damage to their vehicles caused by the bad product.

    Chairman of MOMAN, Olumide Adeosun, said it had recorded at least 136 reported cases of damage to vehicle engines and working to ensure that the clean PMS product received are promptly distributed for the restoration of normal operations.

    “Some bad cases were recorded, including the Ardova PLC case, which led to 136 reported cases of vehicle engines damaged. We have identified the quantum of the problems, traced the sources and know the vessels that discharged the products as well as the depots and filling stations involved.

    Similarly, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission also confirmed that Nigerians who purchased contaminated fuel had experienced technical difficulties and damage to their vehicles, adding that it was engaging regulators and bodies involved in Nigeria’s downstream fuel distribution value chain to mitigate the losses experienced.

    “The commission in the process of its initial investigative assessment understand that consumers who purchased fuel that constitutes part of this consignment have experienced technical difficulties and damage to their vehicles or other relevant equipment/machinery,” it said.

    It said that in furtherance of its investigation, and pursuant to relevant laws, the Commission is currently engaging multiple regulators and relevant entities, particularly with respect to a reasonable and acceptable mechanism to mitigate demonstrated injury and or loss experienced by consumers.

    Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has called for a thorough investigation of the matter, stressing that consequences would be visited on all parties responsible for the great danger and inconvenience Nigerians have been subjected to through the supply of adulterated products.

    The NNPC has confirmed receipt of 2.1 billion litres of PMS which will be distributed to restore normalcy and predicted that the lingering fuel crisis would disappear this week and TNG can confirm that the situation has started to ease as shorter lines were observed at some filling stations on Sunday.

  • Queue to disappear at filling stations by next week – NNPC

    Queue to disappear at filling stations by next week – NNPC

    Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari said that the lingering fuel crisis and its attendant queues at the filling stations will ultimately disappear next week.

    Kyari said that there was already a receipt of 2.1 billion liters which would be distributed to normalize the situation.

    Kyari offered the hope at a meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum investigating the circumstances surrounding the importation of adulterated fuel into the country.

    He said: “This National Assembly created the NNPC limited. By God’s grace, I am the CEO of that company. This company will serve the Nigerian people

    “By law, it is required to ensure energy security. Therefore, it is our responsibility to ensure that we provide energy security for this country. This company must operate within the laws of this country and this is what we have always done, and this is what we will continue to do.

    “For this current situation, I assure you that we have taken every necessary step to restore supply into this country. We have placed orders significant enough for us to cross into March, with at least 2.1 billion liters of PMS in our custody.

    “The situation you’re seeing today, I can assure you that by next week, it will vanish. All things being equal because of distribution issues that we may not have control over including the movement of trucks, otherwise we have robust supply arrangement to make sure that we exit this issue.”

    No single liter of PMS is processed locally

    Giving a background process of fuel importation in the country, Kyari regretted that all the fuel consumed in Nigeria was imported.

    He explained that the situation will persist for a long time to time unless the refineries were upgraded.

    “Why do we have this challenge? First of all, we import all the gasoline we use in this country. Every petroleum product we use in this country is not locally processed except a few quantities. Some of them, I can also share with you are coming from sources that may not be illegitimate. Not a single liter of PMS is generated in the country. That means 100 percent of PMS you see in this country is imported. Those imports are done on the basis of existing contractual arrangements that we have. It’s called the direct sale direct purchase process, which is simply with the best of practice to enable our suppliers supply products to us on agreed terms and conditions.

    We have been doing this since I came on board and it’s part of our supply mechanism.

    “Even if all our refineries come up today, except dangote refinery, we will still be in short supply of PMS, because all of our refineries can only make 18 million liters of gasoline. Consumption is certainly above 18 million liters”, he said.

    Evacuation of toxic fuel

    The CEO also explained to the Committee that the specification of the imported was established in consonance with the current regulatory mechanism.

    “Evacuation from depots, we know all the trucks that leave our depots, but we do not know where they end up. This is reality. There is no tracking mechanism to enable this. We also know that some of these products find their way in places that may not be in this country. I don’t have statistics to back this up, but I’m sure smuggling takes place.

    “On the basis of those contracts our suppliers bring products to us and reconcile with them regularly. Part of those supply arrangements, is to give specification to your suppliers. This specification are bound by regulation and the latest that we are using is the one that is in place since 2006. The current specification we have is what is the subject of all our import arrangement. So, all our partners were given those specification and on the basis of this, those imports were made.

    “Before a vessel leaves the load port, they have to declare that those vessel meet our specification. They will send it to COMD, the importer and confirm that this is the specification to do, this product that we are bringing to you meets this specification. On the basis of that, you allow the sail away of the vessel.

    “Now once it comes to the country, two things happen. We have NNPC surveyors who are now also required to validate that this product that have come meets the Nigerian specification. Also, we have the regulatory authority who has to conduct an independent assessment to confirm that this product meets the specification that is in consonance with the existing regulation in the country.

    Why we allowed cargeos to discharge product

    “In case of all the problems we have seen, four of the cargoes that are particularly in question today met all this criteria on arrival and that’s why they were allowed to discharge into terminals and conveyed into ship. There’s simply no way based on the current specification that you will know this PMS contains methanol. It is not part of their requirements at the load port. So we didn’t ask them to declare whether it contains methanol because it is not part of our specification.

    “Let me make it clear that methanol is not contamination. It is a regular addictive to PMS. In China, upto 15 percent PMS contains methanol. On its own, it is not a contamination. The key issue is handling methanol. If we, knew we will not accept this. Anytime methanol comes in contact with water, it emulsifies. It turns into a different chemical.”

    While highlighting a few challenges, Kyari said that NNPC limited rejected 5 vessels billed to come to Nigeria with the product from the same terminal abroad.

    “We have a number of challenges. On depots in the country today, once you evacuate products from the land, you pack it with water because of our peculiar environment. I need to disclose to you that people pack it with water because once you leave PMS in the land, some people will tamper with it. No one does that except NNPC. You can cross check this. Every depot has a way of managing this water that comes into the facility. Every filling station in this country have a challenge of managing water.

    “We didn’t know until our inspecting agents on 20th of January to be precise called our attention to the fact that it has seen emulsification in some of the depots and this maybe a cause of concern. That is how we went ahead to check all the deliveries in our hands from all the four vessels that came that have already discharged and to confirm that all of them contain methanol.

    “We quarantined all the volumes wherever they are in depots and transit. We were able to track them. We were able to trace all of them and quarantine them.

    “Not only that we are also expecting several other supplies to come from other sources, we checked their origin and confirmed that five other vessels are coming from the same shipping terminal that loaded this and we rejected all of them. They did not sail into our waters”, he said.

    Earlier in his welcome address, the chairman, Committee on Petroleum Resources Downstream, Hon. Abdullahi Mahmud Gaya said the investigative hearing was called by the House at plenary to identify the possible culprits, bring them to justice and forestall future occurrences.

    “The essence of today’s gathering is to elucidate the current fuel scarcity which has a negative impact on the people. As we are all aware, fuel queues has recently caused gridlock in most of our major cities affecting traffic movements. Some fuel stations are locked while the few that are open have long queues of motorist waiting to buy fuel.

    “This situation is not different in the capital city, Abuja, and our major cities where the majority of filling stations are shut and motorists spent hours in the sun struggling to buy from few that are open.

    “It is a fact that these problem is as a result of the importation of adulterated Premium motor spirit (PMS) which is confirmed to have high percentage of methanol.

    “Even though methanol is a regular additive in petrol but it is usually blended to acceptable quantity. The recent supply are in excess of this additive of which its resultant consequences is injurious to our fragile economy and the generality of our citizens.

    “The House of Representatives at plenary expressed much concern over the development and mandate the committee to conduct investigative hearing on the matter.

    “I therefore call on the Group Managing Director, NNPC Ltd to respond on the resolution of the House, viz investigate the release of adulterated Premium Motor Spirit across the country with a view to ensuring that culprits are brought to book as well as make recommendations towards curbing a reoccurrence of such incident.”

    The chairman added that the Committee will still interface with the four companies identified as the suppliers of the bad fuel in due course.

     

  • ADULTERATED PMS: Group calls for resignation of NMDPRA, NNPC boss within 7days

    ADULTERATED PMS: Group calls for resignation of NMDPRA, NNPC boss within 7days

    A pro-Nigeria Civil Society Organization (CSO) known as NIGERIA FIRST, on Friday, has given a seven-day ultimatum for the resignation of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, over his role in the importation of adulterated Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) currently in circulation in Nigeria.

    The group also mentioned for resignation, the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the newly established Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari, for negligence.

    NIGERIA FIRST National Coordinator, Mr. Augustine Richard-Adie, and the Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Philip Agbese; in a statement, asserted that the inactions of both heads of regulatory agencies have caused Nigerians untold hardship and brought serious embarrassment to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The two CEOs of the above agencies, which are products of the PIA, have been fingered as those whose negligence was responsible for what Nigerians are currently suffering

    “The importation of the adulterated fuel has caused more harm than good and it is clear that these individuals should therefore resign immediately.

    “They have to go immediately to save the President any further embarrassment and to keep his legacy in office”, the statement read.

    The group lamented that it is unfortunate that Buhari’s administration that has cured fuel queues in the last six years would be dented at a time that the President was about to exit the office.

    “We, therefore, give them seven days ultimatum to leave office and save the President of any further embarrassment”, it added.

    It would be recalled that both the GMD NNPC and the CEO of NMDPRA, at separate press briefings on Tuesday, confirmed the importation of adulterated Premium Motor Spirit by some oil marketers.

    The GMD NNPC said his investigation has revealed the presence of Methanol in four petrol cargoes imported by MRS, Emadeb/Hyde/AY Maikifi/Brittania-U Consortium, Oando and Duke Oil.

    The NMDPRA Boss, on his part, told journalists on Tuesday that, “petrol with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification, was discovered in the supply chain”, adding that, “Methanol is a regular additive in petrol and is usually blended in an acceptable quantity”.

    This has been responsible for the return of long fuel queues in parts of the country, especially in Abuja, Lagos, Ogun, Port Harcourt and other cities, since the beginning of this week.

    Seriously embarrassed by the situation, President Buhari had reportedly instructed the Minister of State, Petroleum, Mr. Timipre Sylva, to immediately issue a query to NMDPRA Boss, Ahmed, to explain how the product came into the country.

    Also, the House of Representatives, on Thursday, through a motion by the Chief Whip, Rep. Tahir Monguno, ordered an urgent investigation into the importation of adulterated PMS and to also ascertain the roles played by the two regulatory agencies in the seaports.