Reps assessment: NNPC insists on 68m litres daily fuel supply in Nigeria

As the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Consumption commenced its assessment of the volume of petroleum products consumed in the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has offered to submit itself for forensic audit of fuel supply and subsidy management, insisting that daily fuel supply is 68 million litres.

NNPC made this known on Sunday in a statement signed by Malam Garba Muhammad, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC.

Muhammad said between January and August 2022, the total volume of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) imported into the country was 16.46 billion litres, which translated to an average supply of 68 million litres per day.

Similarly, he said that import in the year 2021 was 22.35 billion litres, which translated to an average supply of 61 million litres per day.

“The average daily evacuation (depot truck out) from January to August 2022 stands at 67 million litres per day as reported by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

“While daily evacuation (depot load outs) records of the NMDPRA do carry daily oscillation ranging from as low as four million litres to as high as 100 million litres per day,” he said.

He said that rising crude oil prices and PMS supply costs above PPPRA (now NMDPRA) cap had caused oil marketing companies’ withdrawal from PMS import since the fourth quarter of 2017.

In the light of these challenges, he said that NNPC had remained the supplier of last resort and continued to transparently report the monthly PMS cost under-recoveries to the relevant authorities.

On cost, he said the average international market determined landing cost, in quarter two, 2022 was 1,283 dollars per Metric Tonnes and N46 per litre approved marketing and distribution cost.

“The combination of these cost elements translates to retail pump price of N462/litre, an average subsidy of N297/litre and an annual estimate of N6.5 trillion on the assumption of 60 million litres daily PMS supply.

The NNPC promised to ensure compliance with existing governance framework that requires participation of relevant government agencies in all PMS discharge operations.

“The agencies include the Nigerian Ports Authority, NMDPRA, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Customs Service, NIMASA and all others,” Muhammad said.

While acknowledging possibilities of criminal activities in the PMS supply and distribution value chain, Muhammad, however, pledged that as a responsible business entity, NNPC would continue to work with relevant agencies to curtail smuggling of PMS and contain other criminal activities.

It would be recalled that the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Fuel Consumption began the assessment of the volume of petroleum products being consumed in the country daily, last Thursday.

Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Uzoma Abonta, led other members of the committee on an oversight visit to tank farms in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

The lawmakers were conducted round the farms by Mr George Ene-Ita, Regional Coordinator, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, South South Regional Office, Calabar.

Abonta said that in view of the current debate on whether fuel subsidy should be removed or not, the House of Representatives set up the committee to ascertain the product consumption in the country.

According to him, the report of the committee will be used by the House as an indicator to perfect the issues surrounding the subsidy.

“We are trying to find out the volume of product being consumed in the country daily. This report will be used by the House of Representatives as an indicator to perfect other issues.

“Subsidy has become a topical issue that has bedevilled Nigeria for a long while and you cannot get or calculate subsidy without knowing the actual volume.

“At the end of the exercise, if we get it right, the House of Representative will be in a better position to direct or properly place this issue of subsidy or to do otherwise.

“From what the Nigeria Customs Service had told us about products getting into our neighbouring countries, if that is true, then it is not part of what we claim we consume,” he said.

He noted that part of the committee’s mandate was also to find out the exact volume of product brought into the country.

“For now, we are on a mission to find out the volume of product been brought into the country and in doing that, we need to take a comparative and quantitative data from all the depots.

“After that, we can then analyse our consumption on a monthly or yearly basis; then we can place it side by side with the subsidy paid out.

“There has been so much controversy on the issue of subsidy; especially on who paid what, who got what and the issue of value,” he added.

Some of the tank farms visited in Calabar, included, Northwest Petroleum, Ammasco Petrochemicals Company, Mainland Oil and Gas, Alkanes, Sobaz, Ibafon and Blokks.