By Solomon Asowata
The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) says its members have almost completed the blending of the off-spec Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol imported into the country.
MOMAN’s Executive Secretary, Mr Clement Isong, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the withdrawal of the imported PMS from the market, created a supply gap which triggered scarcity of the product across the country
The product was said to have contained methanol above the specified volume.
The government had set up a technical committee of stakeholders in the downstream petroleum sector, to carry out the blending of the off-spec petrol, to comply with the acceptable standard.
“We are almost done with the blending of the off-spec petrol. For majority of MOMAN members, we have almost finished the blending.
“We have successfully blended out the methanol and it is now on-spec,” Isong said.
He noted that the lingering scarcity of PMS was triggered by the withdrawal of the off-spec petrol from the market, but had been compounded by other factors.
According to him, these include; the availability of PMS in the international market and the high cost of diesel, which have made transportation of petroleum products expensive for marketers.
He said: “There are other factors that came into play. So, to solve the problem, you need to supply about 150 per cent of your usual supply to the country for the queues to disappear.
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has ramped-up supply, and that is why the queues are disappearing.”
On the escalating prices of Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) and Jet A1 (Aviation fuel) in the country, Isong noted that the ongoing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine and access to forex by marketers were responsible.
He said that the attack on Ukraine by Russia had led to an increase in the prices of crude oil and all its derivatives, including diesel and aviation fuel.
“That war that is ongoing has caused crude oil prices to go up worldwide. It has got as high as $130 per barrel. The problem simply is, even if you have the money, it is not so easy to find.
“Marketers are finding it difficult to source for products and import them to the country.
“Then, there is the issue of accessing forex, which has been a bit challenging for marketers.
“So, when you add these two things together, you will understand why we are having this problem,” Isong said.
NAN reports that Nigerians have been facing scarcity of petrol for weeks, with some filling stations hiking their pump price to N200 per litre.
Also, the price of diesel used by manufacturers to power their generators and the aviation fuel used by aircraft, have gone above N600 per litre in the last few days, due to the scarcity of the products. (NAN)
