ENERGY:Oil marketer wants some private depots designated for petroleum products lifting
Mr Victor
Etefia, a petroleum products marketer, has urged the Federal Government to
designate some private depots in Akwa Ibom for the distribution of petroleum
products.
Etefia, a former chairman, Independent Petroleum Marketers
Association of
Nigeria (IPMAN), Akwa Ibom branch, made the appeal in an
interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket on Sunday.
Etefia said that
the measure would complement the services rendered by the five NNPC depots in
the state.
“The Federal Government should designate some private depots to
augment the services rendered by the NNPC depots. Government depots alone
cannot cope with the business.
“The consumption rate of petroleum products in
Nigerians is very high. The NNPC depot in Calabar is very small and cannot
satisfy the demand in the South-South, let alone other areas.’’
Etefia said that
the depots in Cross River, including 15 private ones were inadequate to service
Akwa Ibom and other states in the South-South geo-political zone. He called on
the Federal Government to make the products available to the marketers, saying
that was the only way to ensure total compliance with the official pump price.
“Government
should also put other measures in place to ensure that the designated depots
comply with the regulated price regime. “Products that are sourced from the
secondary markets are not what you can sell at the government-approved price.
“A situation
where marketers stay for two to three months before getting supply cannot
guarantee availability, no matter the pressure government mounts on them.
According to him, government should be proactive in addressing the challenges
in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.
Comments
Post a Comment