Scarcity: MOMAN calls for deregulation, PIA implementation

Sopuruchi Onwuka

Seven major petroleum marketing companies in Nigeria have restated their resolve  to collaborate with regulators, suppliers and transporters to quickly resolve the prevailing scarcity of petrol in the country.

The companies also called on government to quickly deregulate the market and also activate the Petroleum Industry Act ( PIA) to enable full downstream industry liberalization.

The Oracle Today reports that the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria  (MOMAN) comprising OVH, MRS, Ardova Plc, NNPC Retail, TotalEnergies, Conoil and 11Plc operate 3000 out of the 33000 fuel retail stations in the country.

They also control significant 60 per cent of total fuel distribution in the market.

Chairman of MOMAN, Mr Olumide Adeosun, who addressed journalists on the prevailing fuel crisis in the country, expressed the empathy of the group with its customers over the prevailing market situation.

 He regretted that the groups’ customers have continued to grapple with recurrent scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in various  parts of the Country.

He attributed the current scarcity of petrol to supply inadequacy in the last few weeks and distribution challenges created by the unavailability and continuous surge in  international prices of Automotive Gas Oil (diesel).

“MOMAN members are working with the Authority, NNPC/PPMC, NARTO and other  industry stakeholders to make the product (petrol) available at the pumps and eliminate  the queues as quickly as possible,” he stated.

MOMAN stated that the current supply framework cannot guarantee  steady and consistent supplies to the country given the current state of government  finances and unpredictable international supply shortages.

The Oracle Today reports that the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited remains the sole authorized supplier of petrol to the domestic market.

Marketing groups in the country have persistently called for liberalization of the market to allow them explore other sources of supplies.

Mr Adeosun deplored the market’s reliance on a single importer.

“We, therefore, recommend a gradual price deregulation with targeted palliatives to the public to ease implementation.

In the interim, MOMAN recommended, the current single supplier strategy should be reviewed.

Mr Adeosun called on the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to collaborate with the Ministry of finance and other relevant government agencies to set up a taskforce to immediately focus on increasing diesel supply through accelerated initiatives to increase local  modular refining capacity.

“This move will tackle the supply and distribution  challenges,” he stated.

He also called for phased rehabilitation of existing NNPC refineries to hasten supply of middle  distillates diesel and aviation fuel.

“MOMAN recognizes and closely associates with the need to ease challenges with respect  to high energy and transportation costs occasioned by extraneous circumstances,” he stated.

Mr Adeosun pledged the commitment of MOMAN companies to keep distributing petrol to its customers across the  country.

He said the group would keep exploring opportunities to partner with industry stakeholders,  regulators and the government to ensure the sustainability and institutionalization of a  viable petroleum downstream sector in Nigeria.

“The full deregulation of the petroleum downstream sector and full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 clearly remains the most viable long-term solution to  the country’s supply and distribution challenges,” Mr Adeosun declared.