Deregulation: Ogbeche calculates potential N12 trn gain for govt
Sopuruchi Onwuka
The Group Managing Director of Rainoil Limited, Dr Gabriel Ogbechie, says full commercial deregulation of the nation’s domestic fuel market could save over N12 trillion.
Dr Ogbeche who made a presentation on the benefits of deregulation at the Strategic International Conference hosted by the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) in Lagos called on government to harness savings and sundry revenue from canvassed deregulation to fund construction and maintenance of critical infrastructure across the country.
He decried the huge sum expended on fuel subsidy so far; adding that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 has provided a clear regulatory arrangement for growing the downstream petroleum industry.
He however pointed out that subsidy removal must be followed with palpable improvement in social services and infrastructure to cushion the effects of inevitable price jumps.
In his lead presentation during a panel session, Dr Ogbeche said Rainoil has made solid investments in products distribution infrastructure, including trucks and retail outlets for various petroleum products.
‘’As a prominent player in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, Ogbechie said the company’s operations cut across the downstream value chain including petroleum product storage, haulage/distribution and retail sales. The company’s primary products he disclosed included petrol (PMS), Diesel (AGO), kerosene (DPK) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).’’
Across 25 years, he said, Rainoil has become one of the very prominent and very dominant players in the downstream petroleum industry.
“Today, Rainoil limited holds a 50 million litre (50 ml) capacity of petroleum depot. We own another 50m litres capacity petroleum depot in Calabar, Cross River State. We own yet another 50m litres capacity depot in Lagos State. Again, we own an 8000MT liquefied petroleum gas facility also in Lagos state.
‘’We have little more than 100 petrol stations spread across the country. We are also heavily into logistics. We have more than 150 tank trucks that distribute the petroleum products across the country,” he said.
Ogbechie added that the company had provided direct employment to less than 1,200 Nigerians.
Issues bordering on the need for proper implementation of the petroleum industry act in the face of global energy transition to renewable energy including the need to create a more robust electricity sector for Nigeria, topped the agenda for the 2022 conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria.