BREAKING NEWS, Oil & Gas
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Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for Petroleum Resources, warns filling stations against hoarding petroleum products or face the full weight of the law
IN a spirited effort to end the noticeable long fuel queues in major cities across the country, Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for Petroleum Resources, on Tuesday, November 17, gave the marching orders to the Department of Petroleum Resources to ensure strict compliance by visiting of adequate sanctions on defaulting fuel stations across the country.
Speaking after a working visit to some retail outlets in Abuja, Kachikwu directed the DPR to ensure that any petrol station caught hoarding petroleum product, should have such concealed products sold off to members of the public gratis.
“It is not just sealing the station that is the answer. It is penalising them when they do these things and I hope the message goes out loud and clear,” he said.
The minister was billed to host strategy session with the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN; Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, DAPPMA, as well as Jetty and Tank Farm Owners Associations as well as all other relevant stakeholders in Abuja on Wednesday, November 19. Ahead of the meeting, he charged oil marketers across the country to cooperate with government to ensure speedy clearance of the fuel queues.
“I am getting all the majors to get involved and they must take charge of the situation and they must take responsibility for all their filling stations. Currently, there is enough supply and we are moving trucks massively to address the situation. I have instructed the DPR and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund and all the other agencies to work towards the Fast track movement of petrol bearing trucks and vessels,’’ Kachikwu said.
On the approved payment of N413 billion subsidy claims to marketers, he reiterated that President Muhammadu Buhari had transmitted a letter to the National Assembly for the legislative approval of the subsidy claims, noting that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, would make the funds available to the marketers once appropriated by the National Assembly.
The minister also said there was no price reduction of petrol in the horizon and that marketers should desist from hoarding by making the products available to the motorists.
Meanwhile figures from the daily dispatch of petrol to depots across the country indicate that 38, 277, 955, 00 litres of petrol was dispatched by the PPMC across the country on November 16, 2015.
— Nov 18, 2015 @ 17:15 GMT
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