DPR accuses oil marketers of hoarding kerosene

Kerosene,  the petroleum product used in many homes for cooking may remain scarce and costly for a very long time.




Despite Federal Government’s directive to the marketers to make the product available, members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) are hoarding it to create artificial scarcity.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday confirmed that IPMAN and MOMAN have been starving households of the stock.
DPR’s confirmation came on the heels of an impromptu but scheduled assessment of the efforts being taken by the department to give effect to government’s directive to stop the lingering scarcity of kerosene nationwide.

It also came barely a week after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced that major marketers had accepted to distribute kerosene to retail outlets in the country within 10 days.
By their action, the associations have flouted the agreement they reached with the NNPC.

A surveillance team of the DPR that visited about eight service stations within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja metropolis confirmed the hoarding theory even as the marketers claimed that they had not received supply of the product contrary to the information given by the supply manifest from the Pipeline and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC.

Some of the NNPC Mega Stations visited by the fact-finding team dispensed the product at the official pump price of N50 per litre. But in the face of overwhelming queues, other stations visited, though had abundant stocks, refused to dispense on the excuse that customers were not patronising them.

The team, headed by DPR’s Head of Downstream Operations in Abuja, Mr. Yerima Killoma, however, discovered that some of the MOMAN and IPMAN operated stations had stocks but were selling above the approved rate. Some were selling at N100 per litre. Others at N150. 

For instance, Yaman Petroleum Limited in Garki Area 3 and Mararaba as well as Mobil Plc, in Karu were found to have stocks. They sold above the official rate.
In a swift reaction to the development, the DPR ordered that the products be dispensed immediately to consumers at N50.

Erring officials at the Mobil Filing Station, who had initially refused to obey the order on claims that their station had ran out of stock were, however, forced to comply. The station was thereafter sealed off. 

Speaking to reporters, Killoma said the objectives of the surveillance team was clear and apt, adding that the DPR has been mandated to ensure that marketers comply with the order and agreement they reached with the NNPC in the supply and distribution of kerosene. 

He said: "You can see what we have discovered here today, whereas the NNPC Mega Stations are selling at the official rate of N50 per litre but faced with inadequate supply to comfortably satisfy the huge number of customers that troop in to buy from them, some marketer are hoarding the product to sell at exorbitant rates, any marketer found to be guilty of this will be made to face sanctions."

Also yesterday, the sudden resurgence of queue in Abuja for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, reduced yesterday as the product was available in most of the service stations that were visited.

Abuja residents had on Monday experienced an artificial scarcity.

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