Christmas: Oil marketers assure Nigerians of steady supply of fuel

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has reiterated its commitment to ensure 24-hour supply of petroleum products across the country during the Yuletide.

Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, National Chairman of IPMAN, gave the assurance in an interview in Lagos on Monday.

Okoronkwo said that members of the association had been instructed to ensure products availability in all nooks and crannies of the country.

According to him, the association will ensure massive loading of petrol at various private depots across the country during the Christmas and New Year season.

The president, however, appealed to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to boost allocations for effective distribution.

“We urge NNPC to give us products; we will ensure judicious distribution to the public through marketers because we are not importing petrol.

“NNPC is the sole importer and supplier of petrol to marketers. We will ensure that any quantity of petroleum product given to us is distributed to customers,’’ he said.

Okoronkwo said that most tanker drivers had commenced loading to the northern part of the country so as to ensure adequate supply of petrol in filling stations for the festive season.

He commended the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, for his commitment and support especially in the resuscitation of depots in some parts of the country, saying this contributed immensely to steady supply of products nationwide.

The NPPC had earlier said it had 2.6 billion litres of petroleum products offshore and onshore in Lagos to meet the nation’s demands.

Mr Isiaka Abudulrasaq, Chief Financial Officer of NNPC, had given the assurance in an interactive session with journalists in Lagos on Dec. 8.

Abdulrasaq said that the country had about 52-day-petroleum sufficiency, adding that this represented an average of 50 million litres per day product availability on land.