The country may be plunged into another round of excruciating fuel
scarcity in the next couple of weeks as oil marketers disclosed that
they are running out of patience over the Federal Government’s refusal
to pay its $1.7 billion debt owed them since May 2015.
One of the oil marketers who spoke to newsmen in Abuja, under the
condition anonymity, disclosed that the seeming sanity in petroleum
products distribution and sales across the country can be likened to the
“peace of the graveyard,’ as he noted that marketers are only ensuring
that they are not seen as individuals seeking to sabotage the efforts of
government.
He stated that the marketers had written series of letters over their
predicaments to the Presidency and that the Presidency had agreed to
grant them audience, while he warned, however, that if nothing is done
to address the issue of the debts owed them, they would be forced to
take drastic measures that might lead to the return of another fuel
crisis.
He explained that the amount owed the marketers was for foreign
exchange differentials owed both major oil marketers, independent oil
marketers and other petroleum marketers.
He said the amount was the balance from the payments made by the
Goodluck Jonathan administration, before handing over to President
Muhammadu Buhari, while the rest was incurred in May 2016, when the
Federal Government devalued the naira.
According to the source, major oil marketers are owed about $500
million, while independents, depot and petroleum products marketers were
owed about $1.2 billion. The source also confirmed that some of the oil
marketers are indebted to the government, stating, however, that their
indebtedness pales in comparison to the huge debt the Federal Government
owes the oil marketers.
He further stated that the oil marketers’ indebtedness to the country
was more recent, while the Federal Government’s debts dated back to May
2015.
“Irrespective of the fact that our own debt is recent, very small and
insignificant, compared to the amount the Federal Government owes us,
the government is asking us to pay, while nothing is said about their
own debt which is huge and dates back to 2015,” he said.
He noted that as a result of the huge debts, majority of the oil
marketers had sacked a large number of their staff, as many of them are
finding it extremely difficult to pay staff salaries and even sustain
their operations, as a result of the unfavourable operating environment.
He added that the oil marketers are currently at loggerheads with a
subsidiary of the NNPC, the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company,
PPMC, over the introduction of obnoxious rules that are detrimental to
existing contractual obligations, without proper consultations with oil
marketers and other stakeholders.
He also disclosed that majority of the oil marketers had since
stopped the importation of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as
petrol, while he confirmed that the NNPC is currently the major importer
and has enough stocks of the commodity on ground to guarantee several
months of supply.
However, he said, “While I can tell you that the NNPC has adequate
quantity of the product to last the country for months, we the oil
marketers have agreed that we cannot continue to allow the NNPC to
supply its products to Nigerians through our facilities, both depots and
retail outlets, while nothing is done to address the debts owed us.
“We might be forced to stop the NNPC from using our facilities; then
let us see how the NNPC can supply its millions of litres of PMS to the
public. It is a known fact that the NNPC cannot supply its products to
the public without using the facilities of oil marketers.
Confirming the development, the NNPC, in its latest Monthly Financial
and Operational Report for September 2016 released recently, disclosed
that as regards downstream sector, NNPC remains the major importer of
petroleum sector. This, according to the NNPC, was despite the
liberalized price regime due to inaccessibility of foreign exchange
(FOREX).
However, it stated that the “FOREX intervention by the international
oil companies (IOCs) cushions the effect. Also, the ongoing Turn around
Maintenance (TAM) is promising to entirely change the anemic outlook of
the country’s refineries.”